ChessBase News

Checkmating Alzheimer’s Disease

Mon, 20 May 2013 15:13:44 GMT

Checkmating Alzheimer’s Disease

Could Mind Sports help older adults improve cognitive performance and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s

By Michael Ciamarra

You’ve read the headline of this article. Interesting you think. You nod and move on. What if you notice that you forgot what you just had read a moment ago?

It’s those little things that begin to make you concerned – misplaced keys, forgetting to shut the refrigerator door, driving home forgetting which way you turn to get there. What happens when you cannot remember the person sitting across from you who happens to also be your spouse?

Many know this reality all too well – especially if you are a caregiver or have seen the devastation of Alzheimer’s in your immediate family. The never ending data is alarming and staggering.

Comparison of a normal aged brain and one of a person with Alzheimer's [Wiki]

Every 68 seconds, someone in the U.S. develops Alzheimer’s disease. One in three seniors dies with Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that in 2013, 450,000 Americans will die with Alzheimer’s disease. Estimates are that 7 million Americans will have Alzheimer’s by 2025 – a 40 percent increase.

By 2050, cost of care for Alzheimer’s is projected to balloon from $203 billion in 2013 to $1.2 trillion, 70 percent of which will be covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Nearly 14.5 million caregivers provided more than 17.5 billion hours of unpaid care. Those numbers will rise over the next decade as well.

Age is the greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s or dementia, so as our population continues to age the prevalence of the disease will continue to grow. Closer to home, almost 53,000 Alabama citizens are living with Alzheimer’s. In Alabama, by 2025 there will be a 31 percent increase in the disease.

The latest data underscore the need for an urgent global response, including a strong investment in research, to stop the emerging Alzheimer’s crisis. Fortunately, policy makers are recognizing this urgency about investment, research and education. The White House recently unveiled a $100 million dollar BRAIN Initiative and that will take a very important step toward the most dramatic breakthroughs in human health. Brain research is vital for Autism, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, mental health, and a host of other concerns.

Chess vs Alzheimer

What can be done to stop the disease or slow it down in the meantime? There exists an intriguing activity that could, indeed, slow or stop the disease. A recent National Institute of Health – National Institute on Aging publication, Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease: What Do We Know? is fascinating. The front cover of the document featured two seniors playing chess! The document affirms that, “Staying cognitively active … through mentally stimulating activities … such as playing games are linked to keeping the mind sharp.”

Further, it suggests that the reasons why an active brain prevents Alzheimer’s may be, “Such activities may protect the brain by establishing ‘cognitive reserve,’ the brain’s ability to operate effectively even when it is damaged or some brain function is disrupted.” Harvard Medical School last month noted, “...exposing the brain to novel activities in particular provided greater protection against Alzheimer’s disease than just aerobic exercise.”

"Chess-Players" by Honoré Daumier, 1867 [source: Wikipaintings]

Does playing chess or any mind sport prevent Alzheimer’s? Could this nearly 1800 year-old game hold a key to keeping your thinking healthy and engaged? Could chess or other mind sports be one of the “preventions” to ward off the 6th largest killer disease in the US?

Chess is in fact a particularly good brain builder! It is a fairly easy game to learn. It takes a little practice but you can play it very quickly and the possibilities of play are endless. Playing games like chess can stimulate our minds, increase our social interactions with others and possibly reduce stress, but when it comes to reducing risk of Alzheimer’s, the type, variety and frequency of the games we play is key.

I am going to suggest, based on my long experience and observations, that any game that is challenging and stimulating will be beneficial to an older adult. Mind sports lends itself to a variety of complexities from various patterns to calculations that stimulate players' brains. Research says that people who don't exercise their gray matter stand a chance of losing brain power when they age.

A “mind sport” doesn’t leave the game outcome to dice or chance or bluff. Although those games are fun and recreational – they do not confer to an individual the same lasting values as a mind sport.

Chess seems like a treatment that works. In fact, people over the age of 75 that partake in leisure activities that stimulate the brain were less likely to develop signs of dementia. Research shows that chess affects specific areas of the brain and the stimulation will shift with the problems that a chess player faces during the game.

We all know that games can be fun and challenging, but if we are interested in actually maintaining brain fitness, then mind sports stimulate all six cognitive areas of the brain at the same time and are the most beneficial.

Those six cognitive areas:

Short-term memory, used when we remember information shortly after it’s been understood.
Long-term memory, used when we recall something from the vast store of information that’s in our brain.
Language, the use and form of words.
Calculation has two definitions. First, calculation is the use of numbers. The other form of calculation involves assessing the risks, possibilities or effects of a course of action. Playing chess is another way to exercise calculation skills.
Visual-spatial, referring to our visual perception of objects.
Critical thinking, our ability to analyze and evaluate situations.

The emergence of mind sports as a tool to reduce our risk of Alzheimer’s is based on using and exercising all six cognitive areas of the brain and continuing the program over a period of time. Chess touches every one of those areas.

It can’t hurt to learn chess, checkers (there are dozens of different ways to play this very beautiful game), Bridge or another mind sport. Those games are easy to learn and are endlessly fascinating. The day may not be far off when doctors recommend a game of chess along with the physical exercise and a healthy diet for older adults! The recreational value will make for a memorable experience and a better life in the future – one you will want to remember.

Michael Ciamarra is a World Chess Federation (FIDE) certified Chess Instructor and a US Chess Federation certified Advanced Chess Coach. He is a member of the American Checker Federation. He coaches mind sports (chess, checkers, etc) to older veterans, and blind and low-vision veterans at the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center. He speaks to senior groups about the value of Mind Sports as a way to improve cognitive performance and teaches chess and Mind Sports to older adults. He can reached through alabamachess at gmail.com.

You can also visit Michael's Facebook page, which has the above historical 3D chess photograph in its header. It can be views by gazing into the background and bringing the two images together; or if you are not able to use that technique you can use cross-eyed viewing using this image (in which we have reversed the plates).

Veterans from Tuscaloosa’s VA Medical Center are playing mind games. Actually, they are playing a game that will hopefully strengthen their minds. Chess. There has been some research to indicate that games like chess, which require a lot of brain power, can improve a person’s memory. It could also help to slow Alzheimer’s symptoms. Experts describe these “mind sports” has being like a Stairmaster for your brain. The idea is that when you stay cognitively active, your mind stays in shape.

Experts will be coming to the VA once a week to coach the veterans on how to play chess. For many, it’s their first trying the game. Instructors say they should be ready to play a full game on their own in four weeks. At that point, there has been some discussion about arranging for tournament play with the Birmingham-area VA Medical Center.

Source: CBS42.com

Peruvians dazzle in American Continental

Sun, 19 May 2013 20:39:27 GMT

The American Continental Championship took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia from May 06th to May 15th. The tournament was especially important not only because of the presence of almost every top Latin American grandmaster, but also because the top four places qualified for the upcoming World Cup in Tromso, Norway that will start in August.

Cochabamba is located in central Bolivia, and it derives its name from the Quechuan words qucha which means "lake" and pampa which means "open plain". The city is known as the City of Eternal Spring as the average temperatures are very stable and pleasant throughout the year.

The Waca Waca (NOT Shakira's version), one of Bolivia's traditional dances, is a parody of Spanish bullfights.

Performers dressed in typical Bolivian attire...

...and dazzling the players with their moves. Women's long dresses are known as polleras.

The tournament favourite was definitely Lazaro Bruzon, from Cuba, with an imposing 2707 and almost 50 points ahead of his nearest rival. However there was a significant presence of Latin American grandmasters as well as one American grandmaster, Alexandr Lenderman, who had to decline his participation in the concurrent American Championship due to personal reasons.

The Cuban team enjoying a meal with the beautiful rain forest in the background.

Despite a draw on this game against Costa Rican IM Bernal Gonzalez. Bruzon kept performing well throughout the first half

The tournament saw relatively few surprises through the first half. Bruzon, Granda, Iturrizaga and Ortiz Suarez remained solidly on top and it seemed unlikely that anyone out of the starting top six players would make it to the qualifying spots.

GM Osvaldo Zambrana, Bolivia's best chess player, came half a point shy of the World Cup qualification

Iturrizaga vs. Ortiz Suarez was a draw on round nine, and it seemed that they would both cruise towards the finish line

However things took a dramatic change in the final round. Bruzon was white against the much lower rated Jorge Cori and only needed a draw to qualify. The Peruvian would not let this happen as he took the game and the qualification spot for himself! Even more surprisingly, Jorge's sister Deisy was playing on board four against Iturrizaga, a GM 200 points well ahead of her. The Peruvian spirit was strong that day as she also won her game and not only knocked out Iturrizaga from the top honors, but she herself qualified for the World Cup.

Deisy Cori's (above) claim to fame is her 2011 victory in the Women's Junior World Championship. Now she is one of two girls qualified for the Tromso World Cup, the other being Anna Ushenina who qualified by being the Women's World Champion.

As if that wasn't enough for the Peruvians, on board one Granda, who would have emerged victorious from the tournament with just a draw, won with black against Axel Bachmann and took first place a full point ahead of the field.

Granda showed his usual fighting chess and annihilated the opposition, earning him a cool USD$5000

Note that both Coris qualified despite finishing fourth and fifth because Granda had already qualified from the 2012 edition of this tournament. Third place went to Diego Flores. Both Bruzon and Iturrizaga will have a final opportunity to qualify to Tromso in their Zonal championship, which was supposed to be held last month.

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	GM	Granda Zuniga Julio E	PER	2659	9.5	2802	10	19.7
2	GM	Ortiz Suarez Isan Reynaldo	CUB	2598	8.5	2678	10	13.8
3	GM	Flores Diego	ARG	2586	8.0	2629	10	8.4
4	GM	Cori Jorge	PER	2546	8.0	2536	10	1.9
5	WGM	Cori T. Deysi	PER	2430	8.0	2463	10	6.4
6	GM	Bruzon Batista Lazaro	CUB	2707	7.5	2614	10	-7.2
7	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	VEN	2655	7.5	2529	10	-9.7
8	GM	Bachmann Axel	PAR	2531	7.5	2538	10	4.3
9	IM	Leiva Giuseppe	PER	2388	7.5	2498	15	26.0
10	IM	Ynojosa Felix Jose	VEN	2371	7.5	2508	15	30.0
11	GM	Zambrana Oswaldo	BOL	2478	7.5	2402	10	-7.6
12	GM	Vasquez Schroeder Rodrigo	CHI	2554	7.0	2436	10	-12.5
13	GM	Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag	BRA	2551	7.0	2368	10	-8.3
14	IM	Gonzalez Bernal	CRC	2461	7.0	2481	10	4.6
15	GM	Lenderman Aleksandr	USA	2585	7.0	2425	10	-17.7

Links

Official tournament site
All games in PGN (missing round 11)

All games were broadcasted live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Lothar Schmid: 1928–2013

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:13:33 GMT

Lothar Schmid: 1928–2013

Lothar Schmid was born on May 10th 1928 in Dresden, Germany. In 1941, at the age of 13 and at the beginning of his career, he won the Dresden Championship. In 1943, he took second in Vienna (German Junior Championship). In September 1948, at the age of 20, he tied for fourth/fifth place at the full German Chess Championship (12th GER-ch) in Essen. In May 1949 he took third in Bad Pyrmont (13th GER-ch, which was won by Efim Bogoljubow). In 1956 he won in Göteborg, in 1957 he took fourth in the Dublin Zonal. In 1964 he won in Wilderness and tied for fourth/fifth in Zürich. In 1968 he tied for second/third with Tigran Petrosian, behind Paul Keres, in Bamberg. In 1970 he won in Mar del Plata. These are only a few of the successes in a long chess career.

Lothar Schmid played for West Germany at eleven Chess Olympiads:

Year	Board	Olympiad	Score
1950	2	9th Olympiad in Dubrovni	+7 –1 =4
1952	2	10th Olympiad in Helsinki	+7 –1 =4
1954	2	11th Olympiad in Amsterdam	+6 –4 =3
1956	2	12th Olympiad in Moscow	+4 –2 =7
1958	3	13th Olympiad in Munich	+6 –3 =4
1960	2	14th Olympiad in Leipzig	+7 –2 =5
1962	3	15th Olympiad in Varn	+4 –2 =2
1964	3	16th Olympiad Tel Aviv	+7 –2 =5
1968	2	18th Olympiad Lugano	+6 –0 =6
1970	2	19th Olympiad Siegen	+7 –1 =4
1974	1	21st Olympiad Nice	+5 –3 =7

Schmid won four individual silver medals (1950, 1952, 1968, 1970) and two team bronze medals (1950, 1964). He played for German team at twelve Clare Benedict Cups, winning nine gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in 1957–1973. He won first German Correspondence Championship (1950–1952), the first Eduard Dyckhoff Memorial (1954–1956), and came second with in the second World Correspondence Championship in (1956–1959). Schmid was awarded the IM title in 1951, and the GM and GMC titles in 1959.

Lothar Schmid at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden 2008 – photo Frank Hoppe

Lothar Schmid died in Bamberg on May 18, 2013, of age-related illness.

In 2008, on his 80th birthday, we published a story by Elmer Dumlao Sangalang, a long-standing friend of Lothar. We reproduce this article here.

Lothar Schmid – the Complete Chess Authority

By Elmer Dumlao Sangalang

Lucena's book, which appeared in 1497

I love books. I love to read them. I love to have them. As a result, I have a growing library. And because chess ranks top among my few absorbing hobbies, most of my books are on chess. It is a genuine source of delight for an aficionado like me, that chess possesses an extensive literature which in content probably exceeds that of all other games combined. Each year I have some interesting new book to look forward to.

Whenever I sit back to relax and appreciate my modest chess book collection, I never fail to think fondly, specially on the occasion of his 80th birthday, of a friend elsewhere in the world who must be two-hundred times as joyous about his – for he is in possession and has direct access to any one of a vast collection of more than 50,000 chess books!

He is International Grandmaster Lothar Schmid, the celebrated bibliophile owner of the largest private chess library in the world. Born Lothar Maximilian Lorenz Schmid in Dresden, West Germany, on May 10, 1928, his love for books must have been enkindled by the fact that his family owned the large publishing firm, the Karl May Verlag, whose management passed on to him when his father died. It is not just the sheer number, but also the quality of his collection that is remarkable. For example, he owns one of only ten extant copies of the first printed chess book by Luis Lucena, entitled Discourse on Love and the Art of Chess with 150 Endings (in English translation), which appeared in 1497.

He also has all eight editions of Pedro Damiano’s book, Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de la partite (1512-64). About six feet of shelf-space in his library is taken up by all editions published in more than a century of Jean Dufresne’s famous little primer, Kleines Lehrbuch des Schachspiels (1881). These and many other fascinating features of GM Schmid’s legendary collection have been written about frequently. But does anybody know that it even has a Philippine section?

GM Schmid spent two and a half months of 1978 in Baguio City, the Philippines, as chief arbiter of the Karpov-Korchnoi match. He got to love the City of Pines and the famed Filipino hospitality. His stay, however, was abbreviated by pressing business concerns that required his physical presence in West Germany, so he was not in attendance at the match’s conclusion.

Schmid returned to our country fourteen years later to participate in the 1992 FIDE Congress held in Manila as member of the Commission on Chess Art and the Rules Commission. In the meantime, we became friends through correspondence that I had initiated with my request for an autographed picture in 1982. Along with it, GM Schmid sent me a souvenir booklet/program of the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Bamberg Chess Club.

In genuine appreciation of his extraordinary thoughtfulness that I felt I had not deserved, I reciprocated by sending him several of our locally published chess booklets. I was gratified to learn from his response that he valued them even if, in my personal assessment, they were obviously inferior to most of the countless publications he was accustomed to. I was so impressed by such humility from a chess personality of his stature that I earnestly sought out all extant Philippine chess publications and sent them to him to augment his collection. Every time a new book of Philippine origin appeared, I made sure that GM Schmid promptly got his copy in mint condition. In due time his compilation grew in size to develop, according to him, into a noteworthy part of his library that he now refers to as the beloved “Philippine Section”.

Lothar Schmid (right) during the Spassky-Fischer match in 1972

Not to be outdone in generosity, GM Schmid has gifted me with some rare and precious titles such as Das Konigliche Spiel by Petzold and Schachspiel und Trictrac by Kluge Pinsker (Hg.). When he came to our country in 1992, he brought me a couple of limited-reprint vintage tournament booklets as souvenirs of his visit. I treasure and take great pride in them, together with all the letters and chess-inspired cards I have received from him through the years of our friendship. In mutual admiration, I call them my “Schmid Collection”.

Officiating at the Petrosian-Fischer Candidates Final in 1971

GM Schmid was consistently among the best three players of West Germany in the three decades following the Second World War. As an over-the-board (OTB) player, he represented West Germany in the Olympiads eleven times from 1950 to 1974, winning the silver medal on second board in Lugano 1968. He should have also won two more silver medals for his excellent debut performances on board two, in Dubrovnik 1950 and in Helsinki 1952, but medal honors, besides the gold, were not being awarded in the early years of the post-war Olympiads.

At the Fischer-Spassky Belgrade rematch in 1992

His most notable OTB achievement was shared second place with former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, half a point behind GM Paul Keres, but ahead of prominent contemporary GMs Wolfgang Unzicker, Borislav Ivkov, Jan Donner and Laszlo Szabo in the tournament held in his hometown Bamberg in 1968, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Bamberg Chess Club.

A man of great chess talent, Lothar Schmid also excelled in postal chess, where he holds the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster. He won the great Dyckhoff Memorial Correspondence Chess tourney in 1956 and subsequently took second place equal with ICCGM Lucius Endzelins, half a point after ICCGM Viacheslav Ragozin, in the 2nd World Correspondence Chess Championship, 1956-58.

But his most famous chess-related activity involved chess organization. GM Schmid was the chief arbiter of several world championship matches. With great tack and patience, IA Schmid refereed the 1972 Fischer-Spassky in Reykjavik, 1978 Karpov-Korchnoi in Baguio, 1986 Kasparov-Karpov in London-Leningrad and 1992 Fischer-Spassky in Sveti Stefan-Belgrade. His study of and training in law found relevant application in the officiation at the highest levels of chess competitions.

As my way of congratulating GM Schmid for having lived life to the full for eight decades of a century, I am presenting his favorite game. It is not one of his big wins against the world-class players GMs Paul Keres and Efim Bogolyubov and former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. What he relishes most is this game against his old friend and fellow Olympic Team member GM Klaus Darga in Frankfurt 1966, given with his light annotations.

[Event "Frankfurt"] [Site "?"] [Date "1966.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Schmid, Lothar"] [Black "Darga, Klaus"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C78"] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "1966.??.??"] [SourceDate "2006.12.17"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 {Since Black has played 5...b5 one move earlier than usual, White does not answer Re1 followed by the typical maneuver Nb1-d2-f1-g3. Instead, he attacks the Queen's wing.} 7. d4 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 h6 10. Be3 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. d5 {It would have been possible to play 12.Nh2 with the idea f2-f4. The pawn e4 was safe because of the possibility Bd5.} Ne7 13. a4 Bb7 14. c4 {Maybe a little bit too aggressive. } ({Quite reasonable would have been} 14. Qe2) 14... c6 $1 15. dxc6 Nxc6 $1 { A fine pawn sacrifice that gives good prospects in the center.} ({A mistake would have been} 15... Bxc6 16. axb5 axb5 17. cxb5 Bxb5 18. Bxf7+ Kxf7 19. Qb3+ {wins.}) 16. axb5 axb5 17. cxb5 Nb4 $1 18. Qe2 Nxe4 $1 19. Bxh6 d5 {Black has two strong and mobile pawns in the center and could be rather satisfied. However, he has to take care because of the broken pillar h6.} 20. Be3 Nc5 21. Rxa8 Bxa8 22. Bxc5 Bxc5 23. Rc1 Bd6 24. h4 $1 g6 $1 25. Ng5 Kg7 $2 {It should have been better to complete the strong central position by f5! Now there will follow several surprises.} 26. Nde4 $1 Be7 ({Short of time on the clock it was difficult to find the variation} 26... dxe4 27. Nxf7 {which would have been relatively the best.}) 27. Qe3 $1 {From this sq uare the Queen looks to the left and right and demoralizes the opponent. As he does not move Qb8 he gets out of order.} Rh8 $2 28. Nc5 Qd6 29. f4 Bf6 30. Nce6+ $1 fxe6 31. Rc7+ $1 Qxc7 32. Nxe6+ Kh7 33. Nxc7 d4 34. Qd2 Be7 35. fxe5 d3 36. Ne6 Be4 37. Ng5+ {This is quite an exciting game throughout that was enjoyed even by the loser. I thought to myself that it was necessary to be ready for great risks to get winning chances against my good friend.} (37. Ng5+ Bxg5 38. hxg5 Nd5 (38... Nc2 39. Qf2 {and Black will be mated.}) 39. Qe1 {wins a piece.}) 1-0

Jan-Krzysztof Duda: 15-year-old gains GM title

Sun, 19 May 2013 01:18:53 GMT

GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 15

Jan-Krzysztof Duda, born on April 26, 1998, in Krakow, Poland, learnt to play chess at the age of five. In a short time he began to achieve significant success in national and international arenas. He won tens of medals in Polish Junior Championships, in different age categories.

In 2005 he won the title of International Champion of Germany in the Under 8 section, in 2008 the gold medal in World Junior Championship Under 10 in Vung Tau. In 2009 he won a silver medal in World Junior Championship Under 12 in Antalya and was awarded the title of FIDE Master. In 2010 he won the bronze medal in World Junior Championship Under 12 in Porto Carras. In 2011 he won silver medal in European Junior Championship Under 14 in Albena.

In 2012 he won the Olomouc Chess Summer 2012 – Valoz Cup GM tournament in Olomouc an 8.5/11 score and with this his first GM norm. In 2012 he also won gold medal in European Junior Championship Under 14 in Prague and was awarded the title of International Master. In March 2013 he won the First Saturday tournament in Budapest with a score of 8.0/9 and with this his second GM norm. In April 2013 he was tenth in the Polish Chess Championship in Chorzów. In May 2013 he earned his third GM norm during the European Individual Chess Championship in Legnica, Poland.

The latest progress chart of Jan-Krzysztof Duda

This makes Jan-Krzysztof Duda the second-youngest GM in the world today

The youngest is Chinese GM Wei Yi, who is sill 13 and earned the title in March this year

Jan-Krzysztof Duda is the member of the professional chess team "Wojtaszek Comarch Team", together with GMs Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Dariusz Swiercz. The Wojtaszek Comarch Team is a project which aims to support the development of the most talented Polish chess players.

Information from Przemek Jahr, photos by Winicjusz Drozdowski

Chess Prodigies and Mini-Grandmasters

By Frederic Friedel

Child prodigies are a well-known phenomenon in chess, which is one of the few sports or intellectual activities where children can compete with adults on equal ground (another is computer games). The great Capablanca learned the game at four, and was one of the strongest players in Cuba in his early teens. Samuel Reshevsky also started at four and was giving simultaneous exhibitions at six.

Four-year-old Capablanca playing against his
father, soon after learning the moves in 1892

Sammy Reshevsky playing Charles Jaffe at 11.
He tied for third with Janowski, Bigelow and Bernstein.

Youngest Grandmasters

Sergey Karjakin, grandmaster at 12

In recent times we have seen the record for youngest grandmaster in the history of the game topple repeatedly. In 1991 Judit Polgar, a female at that, broke Bobby Fischer's 33-year-old mark by becoming a grandmaster a month earlier than he had done. In 1994 her record was broken by fellow-Hungarian Peter Leko, who a short time later was overtaken by Ukrainian Ruslan Ponomariov. The latter went on to become FIDE world champion. In 2001 14-year-old prodigy Teimour Radjabov, who hails from the same town as Garry Kasparov (Baku), became the second-youngest grandmaster in history.

But all these records were shattered on August 20, 2002, when Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine fulfilled his final grandmaster norm at the age of 12 years and seven months. He did so at the international chess tournament in Sudak, a town on the Crimea Peninsula. His FIDE rating at the time was 2523.

In the same year Sergey became one of the seconds of world champion Ruslan Ponomariov. This was another record he achieved before he had reached his teens. Although we must be cautious with such statements one must assume that his records will not be broken.

One extraordinary chess prodigy came close. In 2004 Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who is nine months younger than Karjakin, completed his GM norms eight months later than his rival had done. Carlsen, who at 18 trained for a while with Garry Kasparov, went on to become the top-ranked player in the world, crossing the magic 2800 mark as the youngest player by far to achieve both these feats.

Norwegian chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen

In January 2011 the youngest grandmaster in the world was Illya Nyzhnyk,
who completed his title at the age of 14 years 3 months and 2 days.

Below we have compiled a list of the youngest grandmasters in history. In the future we may be updating this list, as new GMs under 15 years of age emerge.

Youngest grandmasters in history

No.	Player	Nat.	years	mths	days	born	GM	FIDE
1	Sergey Karjakin	UKR	12	7	0	1990	2002	chart
2	Parimarjan Negi	IND	13	4	22	1993	2006	chart
3	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	13	4	27	1990	2004	chart
4	Wei Yi	CHN	13	8	23	1999	2013	chart
5	Bu Xiangzhi	CHN	13	10	13	1985	1999	chart
6	Richard Rapport	HUN	13	11	15	1996	2010	chart
7	Teimour Radjabov	AZE	14	0	14	1987	2001	chart
8	Ruslan Ponomariov	UKR	14	0	17	1983	1997	chart
9	Wesley So	PHI	14	1	28	1993	2007	chart
10	Etienne Bacrot	FRA	14	2	0	1983	1997	chart
11	Jorge Cori	PER	14	2	0	1995	2009	chart
12	Illya Nyzhnyk	UKR	14	3	2	1996	2010	chart
13	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	14	4	0	1990	2005	chart
14	Peter Leko	HUN	14	4	22	1979	1994	chart
15	Hou Yifan	CHN	14	6	2	1994	2008	chart
16	Anish Giri	RUS	14	7	2	1994	2009	chart
17	Yuri Kuzubov	UKR	14	7	12	1990	2004	chart
18	Dariusz Swiercz	POL	14	7	29	1994	2009	chart
19	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	VIE	14	10	0	1990	2004	chart
20	Daniil Dubov	RUS	14	11	14	1996	2011	chart
21	Ray Robson	USA	14	11	16	1994	2009	chart
22	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	14	11	20	1992	2007	chart
23	Samvel Ter-Sahakyan	ARM	14	11	?	1993	2008	chart
24	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	POL	15	0	21	1998	2013	chart
25	Andrei Volokitin	UKR	15	0	22	1986	2001	chart
26	Yangyi Yu	CHN	15	0	23	1994	2009	chart
27	Koneru Humpy	IND	15	1	27	1987	2002	chart
28	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	15	2	19	1987	2003	chart
29	Suri Vaibhav	IND	15	2	21	1997	2012	chart
30	Pentala Harikrishna	IND	15	3	5	1986	2001	chart
31	Le Quang Liem	VIE	15	3	17	1991	2006	chart
32	Yaroslav Zherebukh	UKR	15	3	?	1993	2008	chart
33	Judit Polgar	HUN	15	4	28	1976	1991	chart
34	Alejandro Ramirez	CRI	15	5	14	1988	2003	chart
35	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	15	5	?	1985	2001	chart
36	Bobby Fischer	USA	15	6	1	1943	1958	-

Top Juniors

Apart from the age at which they became grandmasters we are also interested in the question or how strong the juniors were at different ages. Garrett Kingman, who is an undergraduate at Harvard University studying and regenerative biology, prepared the following illuminating graph for us:

As we can see Magnus Carlsen was the highest ever rated starting from the age of fifteen. Anish Giri is the second-strongest sixteen-year-old in history, Sergey Karjakin the third strongest. From then on it is Karjakin, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fabiano Caruana battling for the rank of second, third and fourth strongest 17- and 18-year-olds.

It is worth mentioning that although Judit Polgar only became an official GM at 15+, she was rated a whopping 2555 at the tender age of twelve (after her unbelievable 2694 performance at the Olympiad). We also believe that she was the youngest top 100 player in history.

Judit Polgar's dominance of women's chess back in 2006

Other famous chess prodigies and records

Paul Morphy, 1837-1884, beat Johann Löwenthal 3-0 at age 12.
José Raúl Capablanca, 1888-1942, learned chess at the age of four, beat his country's chess champion in a match when he was 13, and eventually became world champion (see above).
Samuel Reshevsky, learned the rules at the age of 4, and gave simultaneous exhibitions at the age of six (see above).
Arturo Pomar played in the Spanish Championship at age 10 and became a master at age 13. He drew Alekhine in Gijon in 1944 at the age of 13.
Boris Spassky became an International Grandmaster at 18 and went on to become world champion.
Bobby Fischer became US Champion at the age of 14 and a world championship candidate at 15. He went on to become world champion.
Henrique Mecking of Brazil learned the game at 6, gave some simultaneous displays at 9, won the Brazilian championship at 13, and South American Zonal at 14, and became an IM at 15. He won two Interzonal Tournaments in a row, at 21 and 24.
Anatoly Karpov became a grandmaster at 18 and went on to become world champion.
Garry Kasparov became a grandmaster at 17 and went on to become the youngest ever world champion (at 22).
Nigel Short finished joint first in the British Championship at the age of 14.
Viswanathan Anand became India's first International Grandmaster at 18 and went on to become the FIDE knockout world champion.
Michael Adams became an International Master at 15 and a grandmaster at 17.
Pentala Harikrishna became India's youngest grandmaster at 15.
Gata Kamsky had an Elo rating of 2650 at the age of 16.
Luke McShane won the World Under-10 Championship at the age of eight.
Ruslan Ponomariov became the youngest ever FIDE knockout world champion at the age of 18.
Alejandro Ramirez became a grandmaster at 15, a month earlier than Fischer. He is the first grandmaster ever in Central America.
Magnus Carlsen became the second-youngest grandmaster in history at 13, and broke Fischer's record by becoming a world championship candidate at 15 years and one month.
As of this writing (January 2006) Parimarjan Negi has achieved five IM norms and one GM norm. He is twelve years old.
Mona Khaled achieved the WIM title and two WGM norms in 2005, when she was eleven years old. At the same time she won both the Arabian and the African Girls Junior Championship in the under 20 group in 2005, although she was the youngest player in both tournments.
In July 2006 Parimarjan Negi of India completed his final GM norm to become the second-youngest grandmaster in the history of the game.
In January 2007 David Howell became the youngest grandmaster in UK history, at sixteen years and one month, breaking Luke McShane's previous record set in 2000 by six months.
On December 7th 2007 Wesley So of the Philippines made his final grandmaster norm at the age of 14 years, one month and 28 days to become the seventh youngest GM in history.
In 2008 Hou Yifan, born February 27, 1994, in Xinghua, China, became the youngest ever female in history (at the age of 14 years 6 months 2 days) to qualify for the title of grandmaster.
Judit Polgar earned her GM title at age 15 years and five months, but was already clearly of GM strength at 12. At the 1988 Olympiads she scored 12.5/13 for the Hungarian team, with a 2692 performance. Judit was the youngest player to ever rank amongst the world's top 100, at the age of 12, with a rating of 2555 in 57th place.
At the Wijk aan Zee tournament on January 30, 2009 the Russian/Nepalese/Dutch player Anish Giri, born on June 28, 1994, completed his third and final GM norm, at the age of 14 years, 7 months and 2 days.
In October 2009 Ray Robson made his final GM norm, becoming the youngest US player ever to achieve this. He was 14 years, 11 months and 16 days old at the time. Ray was formally awarded the title in January 2010.
In April 2009 Dariusz Swiercz (born 31 May 1994), became a grandmaster, just days before his fifteenth birthday.
In March 2010 Hungarian prodigy Richard Rapport made his final GM norm at the Gotth' Art Cup, three weeks before his fourteenth birthday.
On December 29th 2010, three months after his 14th birthday, Ukrainian prodigy Illya Nyzhnyk drew his penultimate game at the Schaakfestival Open in Groningen to complete his final GM norm. His performance in the whole event was 2670.
James Satrapa of Canberra, Australia, provided us with the data of four additional players we had missed: Yangyi Yu of China, Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, Yaroslav Zherebukh of Ukraine and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia. All have been duly added to our list. We welcome additions and corrections by our readers. James Satrapa sent us data which allowed us to insert Andrei Volokitin and Arkadij Naiditsch into the list. He also introduced us to the currently (July 2011) second youngest GM in the world: Daniil Dubov of Russia.
Suri Vaibhav, born 8 Feb 1997, became India’s latest grandmaster when he won the Luc Open in Lille, France on April 29, 2012. With this feat he now becomes the 27th youngest grandmaster at 15 years 2 months and 21 days.
On February 25, 2013, Chinese IM Wei Yi completed his third and final GM norm at the Reykjavik Open at the age of 13 years 8 months and 23 days. This makes him the fourth-youngest grandmaster in history (after Karjakin, Negi and Carlsen).
See also Chess Prodigies by Edward Winter

Copyright ChessBase

Sergey Karjakin wins Norway Chess 2013

Sat, 18 May 2013 17:21:17 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament was one of the strongest super tournaments ever and was held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway: Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (six rounds); Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (one round); Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (one round); Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (one round).

Tourney structure: nine-round round robin
Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move
Game start: daily 15:00 (server time), last round 12:00
Rest day: 11th May and 16th May
Rules & Tiebreak Rules: The “Sofia rules” will apply. A tie for first place will be decided by a blitz match.

Round nine

Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao	1-0	Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin	½-½	Veselin Topalov

The fleet of chessmobiles reserved and painted especially for the tournament

The auditorium where the games were played

With the build up that had been accumulating over the last rounds, to report that Sergey Karjakin won the Norway Chess tournament seems almost the surprise, even though he led the tournament through and through. The reason is not a lack of confidence in Karjakin’s undeniable talent, which led him to not only become the youngest grandmaster in history, but probably also the youngest world championship second. No, the reason is that by the last round, no fewer than three other players could hope to steal first either straight out, or by taking it to the blitz playoffs in case of a tie: Magnus Carlsen, Vishy Anand, and Hikaru Nakamura. At the very least, this all promised great fighting chess for the last round, and not an epidemic of short draws as is common in large swiss tournaments.

For those who prefer the more relaxed atmosphere of the live commentary...

... there was a large spacious area with a great view from all angles.

The technical crew responsible for the filming and the broadcasts

The first game to end was Radjabov-Svidler, who played a Gruenfeld Exchange, and very little took place as both seemed content to play it out and draw. The next was a curious one: Aronian-Carlsen. The two played a Queens Gambit Declined in which the pieces came off quite quickly, and ended up in an endgame with rooks and opposite-colored bishops. A draw was agreed by repetition. For Carlsen it meant having to wait and see whether Karjakin lost, in which case there would be a tiebreak, otherwise he would need to be content with second place.

Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian comment on their game

That was the end of the quieter games. With Carlsen drawing, and Karjakin’s game undefined still, Vishy Anand had to believe he could pull out a surprise from behind by beating Wang Hao. Sadly for him, the day of surprises was not over, and an ugly blunder on move 14 due to an oversight sealed his fate on move 16. He tried to find some creative way to salvage the draw, but the Chinese player held fast and went on to win.

GM Daniel King analyzes Wang Hao-Anand

This still left a chance for Hikaru Nakamura, though his was the most remote as he not only needed to win, but needed Karjakin to lose as well. Winning was the easier part of the equation as he played Jon Hammer, a player rated 150 Elo below him, but accidents can happen. The American made sure there were none, and he beat the Norwegian in a very high quality game, playing razor sharp from beginning to end.

Hikaru Nakamura came in third with 5.5/9

This left the last game still going, and the most important, Sergey Karjakin against Veselin Topalov. The two played a Sicilian Najdorf with Black’s kingside shattered, though not easily penetrated, and White’s advantage in space, also with little room to articulate anything. It seemed as if Karjakin was happy with the draw, which he made clear by shuffling his pieces as he waited for the Bulgarian to show something. Topalov should probably have not insisted as he began a dubious maneuver bringing his king to the queenside allowing White to start hoping for something. It was precisely when Sergey really had killer blows that he chose to repeat the position and accept the draw. One can perfectly well argue that he only needed a draw, and while true, the win was still there with little risk to him.

Sergey Karjakin drew Veselin Topalov for the biggest win of his career

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B96"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2385"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qd2 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. f5 e5 15. Nb3 Rc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Bh6 18. Qd3 Nc4 19. Bf3 h4 20. Rhe1 Kf8 21. Re4 Bg5 22. c3 Qb6 23. Na1 Kg7 24. Nc2 a5 25. Ka2 Rc7 26. Rg4 Kf8 27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Be4 Nb6 29. Kb1 Rg8 30. Qe1 Ke7 31. Qe2 Kd7 32. Bd3 Nc4 33. Bxc4 bxc4 34. Ne3 Rb8 35. Nxc4 a4 36. Qc2 Rb3 37. Ka1 Qb5 38. Qe2 Rc5 39. Re4 Ke7 40. Qd3 Qb7 41. Rg4 Qb5 42. Re4 Kd7 43. Qe2 Kc7 44. Qd3 Qb7 45. Rg4 Rbb5 46. Qc2 Qa8 47. Nd2 Ra5 48. Nc4 {At this point White chooses to repeat the position, precisely when the path to win is open.} (48. c4 $1 {Threatening Ne4 and the rook on c5 is trapped.} Bxd2 (48... Qxd5 $6 {looks strong but is bad due to} 49. Qc3 $1 ({ Not} 49. cxd5 Rxc2) 49... Qa8 50. Ne4 {and suddenly the black king is looking very vulnerable.}) 49. Qxd2 Qh8 50. Qe1 {and not only is Black's h-pawn falling, but White's h-pawn may go forward like a rocket afterwards.}) 48... Rab5 49. Nd2 Ra5 50. Nc4 Rab5 1/2-1/2

Nevertheless, it concluded what was the greatest tournament result in Sergey Karjakin’s career, taking sole first ahead of the world number one, the world number two, and the world champion all at the same time. Fantastic.

For the organizers and home fans, it was a small disappointment to not have their star holding the trophy, but by all means the tournament was a great success and was well used to develop chess and visibility for the country.

The venue made sure visitors had the opportunity to indulge in some chess

On the first rest day, the players visited a school to help promote the game
among the children.

Magnus Carlsen dressed the role

Replay all games

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2747"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 15. Bb4 Nc6 16. Bxe7 Rfe8 17. Bg5 Bb6 18. h4 Nd4 19. Bf6 Qc4 20. Bxd4 Qxd4 21. Qxd4 Bxd4 22. Rd1 Rad8 23. g3 Kf8 24. Kf1 Bb6 25. h5 Rxd1+ 26. Bxd1 Rxe4 27. hxg6 hxg6 28. Bb3 f5 29. Bf7 Re7 30. Rxe7 Kxe7 31. Bxg6 Kf6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D63"] [WhiteElo "2809"] [BlackElo "2872"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 O-O 7. Rc1 a6 8. Qc2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 c5 10. Be2 b5 11. a4 b4 12. Ne4 cxd4 13. Nxf6+ Nxf6 14. Nxd4 Bb7 15. Nc6 Bxc6 16. Qxc6 Rc8 17. Qxc8 Qxc8 18. Rxc8 Rxc8 19. O-O a5 20. b3 Kf8 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Rd1 Rc3 23. Bc4 h5 24. Kf1 Ke7 25. Ke2 Be5 26. h3 h4 27. Rd3 Rc2+ 28. Rd2 Rc3 29. Rd3 Rc2+ 30. Rd2 Rc3 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2631"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 b5 6. a4 Bb4 7. Bd2 a5 8. axb5 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 cxb5 10. b3 Bb7 11. bxc4 b4 12. Bb2 Nf6 13. Bd3 O-O 14. O-O Nbd7 15. Nd2 Qc7 16. f4 a4 17. Rb1 Rfd8 18. Qe2 b3 19. Ba1 Qd6 20. e4 Nc5 21. e5 Qc6 22. exf6 Nxd3 23. Qg4 g6 24. Rf3 b2 25. Qg5 bxa1=Q 26. Rxa1 Qb6 27. Rxd3 Rxd4 28. Rb1 Qd8 29. Rxb7 Rxd3 30. Nf3 a3 31. Rxf7 Qb6+ 32. c5 Qb1+ 33. Kf2 Rxf3+ 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+50"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. e3 Nf6 7. Be2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Na4 O-O 11. O-O Bf5 12. g4 Be6 13. e4 Nb4 14. Nc5 Bxa2 15. Qa4 Qd4 16. Qa5 Rfd8 17. Kg2 Bc4 18. Rd1 Bxe2 19. Rxd4 Rxd4 20. Be3 Rc4 21. Re1 Bxg4 22. b3 Rxc5 23. Bxc5 Nd3 24. Re3 Nxc5 25. Qxc5 e5 26. Rd3 Rc8 27. Qxa7 Bf8 28. Qb7 c5 29. Rd5 f6 30. Rd2 Re8 31. Ra2 Re7 32. Qb6 Rf7 33. f3 Bh5 34. Ra8 Kg7 35. Rxf8 Rxf8 36. Qxc5 g5 37. b4 Ra8 38. b5 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.18"] [Round "9"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B96"] [WhiteElo "2786"] [BlackElo "2771"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2385"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Qd2 b5 10. a3 Bb7 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O-O Nd7 13. Kb1 Nb6 14. f5 e5 15. Nb3 Rc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. exd5 Bh6 18. Qd3 Nc4 19. Bf3 h4 20. Rhe1 Kf8 21. Re4 Bg5 22. c3 Qb6 23. Na1 Kg7 24. Nc2 a5 25. Ka2 Rc7 26. Rg4 Kf8 27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Be4 Nb6 29. Kb1 Rg8 30. Qe1 Ke7 31. Qe2 Kd7 32. Bd3 Nc4 33. Bxc4 bxc4 34. Ne3 Rb8 35. Nxc4 a4 36. Qc2 Rb3 37. Ka1 Qb5 38. Qe2 Rc5 39. Re4 Ke7 40. Qd3 Qb7 41. Rg4 Qb5 42. Re4 Kd7 43. Qe2 Kc7 44. Qd3 Qb7 45. Rg4 Rbb5 46. Qc2 Qa8 47. Nd2 Ra5 48. Nc4 Rab5 49. Nd2 Ra5 50. Nc4 Rab5 1/2-1/2

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Pictures by the official site

Final standings

Statistics

Of the 45 games played in the nine rounds of the Norwegian Super-GM 2013

16 games = 35.6% were won by White
21 games = 46.6% were drawn
8 games = 17.8% were won by Black

Number of decisive games:

eight: by Hammer (+1 –7 =1)
seven: by Karjakin (+5 –2 =2)
six: by Nakamura (+4 –2 =3); Wang Hao (+ 3 – 3 =3)
five: by Anand (+3 –2 =4); Radjabov (+1 – 4 =4)
four: by Carlsen (+3 –1 =5)
three: by Svidler (+2 –1 =6); Aronian (+2 –1 =6)
one: by Topalov (–1 =8)

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao	½-½	Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov	0-1	Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	0-1	Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler	1-0	Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao	1-0	Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin	½-½	Veselin Topalov

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.

Norway 2013 Rd8: Karjakin and Carlsen lose

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:17:30 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

The Norway Chess 2013 Super Tournament is one of the strongest super tournaments ever and is held from May 7th to 18th 2013 in several different locations in the Stavanger-region of Norway: Quality Residence Hotel, Sandnes (six rounds); Stavanger Konserthus, Stavanger (one round); Fabrikkhallen til Aarbakke AS, Bryne (one round); Flor & Fjære, Sør-Hidle (one round).

Round eight

Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	0-1	Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler	1-0	Sergey Karjakin

What a round it was, and no one could possibly have predicted its results unless they were oracles or madmen. Anyone hoping to have the tournament defined by now will have to wait until tomorrow for the grand finale where you can be assured of exciting chess.

The start of the day was understandably quiet, but those watching the live video feed from the official site were rewarded with some wonderful insights into Norwegian culture as today was May 17th. For non-Norwegians, this is a meaningless statement other than the date itself, but for Norwegians it is their National Day, to celebrate the creation of their constitution 199 years ago on May 17, 1814. Just as in many other countries, people from around the nation celebrate it by wearing clothes to honor their country. In the US for example, aside from festivities, the red, white, and blue colors and the flag itself are found everywhere, whereas in Norway, people and youths wear traditional Norwegian garb.

Norwegian girls show their support of the National Day by wearing traditional clothes. When asked they said that all their friends would be similarly dressed.

Even the tournament director wore traditonal clothing

That is, youths up to seventeen years old. Why not eighteen? That particular lot is getting ready to face their final high school exams to enter college and are part of a very different and quite unique Norwegian tradition: the Russ. The Russ prepare their exams the way all wild teenagers in the world would like to: an endless three-week party. From April 26 to May 17, the National Day, participants wear colored overalls, drive matching cars, vans, or buses, and celebrate almost continually during this period. Drunkenness, and public disturbances are regularly linked to the celebration. Several Russ came to visit the tournament, displaying their clothes, and even singing some choice songs such as … The Spice Girls. A lot of fun, and incredibly charming.

This group of Russ sung Spice Girls for the audience without even a soundtrack

The pants bore all manner of decoration, including patches of events, things they support, and signatures and messages by friends.

The string she is holding bore knots along its length, each from events and places they had been to.

It bears mentioning that if the Chess Olympiad next year in Norway is held during any period other than Russfeiring, protests and boycotts can be expected.

The first game to end was also the only lackluster bout of the day. Veselin Topalov and Levon Aronian played the Rubinstein variation of the Nimzo-Indian and followed the game Grischuk-Leko played just a month ago. By the time they stopped following their example, eighteen moves had been played and the endgame left was as lifeless as in the reference. They repeated moves a dozen moves later and that was that.

The next game to end was Vishy Anand against Jon Hammer. Contrary to Magnus Carlsen who had been more or less forced to depend on an error by his compatriot, the world champion chose a very different road. Although the opening can be classified as a Gruenfeld, there was not much about the game that warranted being called that, and even Jon Hammer after the game said he preferred to just call it a fight. Vishy began by sacrificing one pawn, then a second and went all out on the attack. It was a very positive approach to the fight that warmed one’s heart. He admitted after that despite tremendous amounts of calculations, at some point he thought he might be losing control of the game, and the variations that had seemed great at first were now seeming like draws. It was beginning to seem a bit strained when an opportunity came up, rewarding him for his vivacious play, and a Nxf7 came down like a bolt of lightning, defining the game for good. He kept it simple and brought home the bacon for a sensational win bringing him to 5.0/8.

It is worth mentioning that this morning, before the game, Jon had posted in his Twitter that in honor of the Norwegian National Day, it would be nice to beat the world champion. Sadly for him, this post did not have the effect desired, and instead of causing Anand to tremble in fear, it brought down the wrath of Siddhartha on the board.

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "?"] [White "Anand, V."] [Black "Hammer, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2008.05.03"] [EventRounds "13"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [EventCategory "8"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bd2 Bg7 6. e4 Nxc3 7. Bxc3 c5 8. d5 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Qd2 e6 11. d6 {An important decision. Anand decides to attack and keep the passed pawn instead of developing.} e5 12. h4 $1 Be6 13. Nh3 {A novelty.} ({Before White had played} 13. h5 g5 14. h6) 13... Qxh4 { Hammer accepts the challenge and takes all the pawns.} ({White would be better after} 13... Nc6 14. Ng5 ({or} 14. h5)) 14. O-O-O Qxe4 15. Bd3 (15. Ng5 {would be answered by} Qf4 16. Nxh7 Rd8) 15... Qa4 16. Ng5 (16. Qh6 Bxh3 {with the idea} 17. Rxh3 Qf4+) 16... Qxa2 17. Qe3 Qa3+ 18. Kd2 Qb2+ 19. Bc2 Bf5 (19... Bb3 20. Rc1 Rd8 {was possible and White should continue with} {but not} 21. Nxf7 $4 (21. Ne4 Nc6 22. Qh6 Rxd6+ 23. Ke1 (23. Nxd6 Rd8 $15) 23... Rad8 24. Bxb3 Qxb3 25. Qxh7+ Kf8 26. Qh6+ Ke8 27. Qh8+ Ke7 28. Qh4+ $11 {with a perpetual check}) 21... Bxf7) 20. Rc1 Rd8 $2 {the decisive mistake.} (20... h5 {is not good enough} 21. g4 $1 Bxc2 (21... Bxg4 22. Ne4 Nd7 23. Rcg1) 22. Rxc2 Qb3 23. Ne4 Nd7 24. Qh6) ({Black was better after} 20... Nc6 $1 {This is the natural development move and leaves Black with a clear advantage after} 21. Nxh7 (21. g4 Na5) 21... Rfd8 22. d7 (22. Nf6+ Kg7 23. Nd5 Rh8 $19) 22... Rxd7+ 23. Ke1 Rd6 24. Nf6+ Kg7 25. Bxf5 Kxf6 $17) 21. Nxf7 $1 {Sudenly White has a decisive attack and his king is protected in the center.} Kxf7 22. Qxe5 {Black has no good defense.} Rxd6+ (22... Kg8 23. Qd5+ Kh8 24. Rxh7+ Kxh7 25. Qf7+ Kh6 26. Rh1+ Kg5 27. Qe7+ Kf4 28. Qe3+ Kg4 29. Qg3#) 23. Qxd6 Nc6 24. Rxh7+ Kg8 25. Rd7 $1 {Another brillant move threatening Qd5.} Re8 (25... Bxd7 26. Qxg6+ Kf8 27. Qf6+ Kg8 28. Rh1) 26. Qf6 Bxd7 27. Qxg6+ Kf8 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Rh1 {Now Black starts his counterplay and saves the mate but not the game.} Re2+ 30. Kxe2 Nd4+ (30... Qxc2+ 31. Ke3 {and there are no more checks.}) 31. cxd4 Qxc2+ 32. Ke3 Qc3+ 33. Kf4 Qxd4+ 34. Qxd4 cxd4 35. Ke4 {This endgame is easy. White blocks Black's pawns with the king and advances his pawns supported by the rook. You may appreciate Vishy's technique...} a5 36. Kxd4 a4 37. Kc3 b5 38. Kb4 Kf7 39. Rh7+ Ke6 40. g4 Be8 41. f4 Kf6 42. Rh6+ Kg7 43. g5 Bg6 44. Rh3 Bf5 45. Re3 1-0

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Anand vs Hammer

The next game was the wonderfully complicated struggle between Hikaru Nakamura and Teimour Radjabov. With Radjabov’s run of terrible form, it was not exactly a shock to find Nakamura on the winning side, but it was not as simple as that, and the Sicilian Kalashnikov they played was full of dynamic twists and turns that enthralled. Though the American missed the spectacular win 34.Nf5!! it did not change the outcome and Nakamura scored the point.

Hikaru Nakamura is on +1 so far, a respectable result in such a field

By the time all this had taken place, two games were left, Svidler-Karjakin and Carlsen-Hao, and both seemed destined for a draw. They say lightning never strikes the same place twice, but today it did.

In the popular Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez, Peter Svidler played some last minute preparation that he came up with a half hour before the round began. Needless to say, one can only imagine the wonders he could produce with 45 minutes. As it was, the move he found for black (he was white) was precisely what Sergey Karjakin played, and the game was pretty much equal by move ten. Perhaps this was what Svidler needed as he punched back with creativity and came up with the strong idea 14.a4. Sergey was not easily taken down, and the fight swung back and forth with both players holding the advantage at different moments as Karjakin held queen, rook and two passed pawns against Svidler’s queen and two bishops.

It was a tough day for Sergey Karjakin, but he still retains his lead going into the last round.

The decisive mistake came with 47...Rc3? which sealed the fate of Karjakin after which Svidler found all the right moves. The game had been so stressful and complicated, that when Svidler appeared in the pres conference, Simen Agdestein asked him if he wanted anything, such as coffee perhaps. Peter replied, “A new head would do.” This loss left Karjakin on 5.5/8, leaving Carlsen a chance to catch up with him for the last round.

At this juncture, with both Magnus Carlsen and Wang Hao deep in thought, another guest was brought to the table, and quite an unexpected one: Lars Monsen. For those who do not know who he is, Lars Monsen is a famous adventurer and journalist who has not only made many extreme hiking expeditions, such as crossing Canada through to Alaska on foot, much of which he documented both in book and film, later edited in documentaries. He regaled the audience with his stories involving his extensive experience with bears, from grizzly bears, black bears, and even polar bears, as well as what to do. He even has a book detailing this. More importantly to all this, was not simply a talk show with a fascinating personality, but the fact that he is a genuine chess buff who plays online every day, and during his expeditions always carries a set and book to peruse in his tent at night or during storms.

Lars Monsen: famous adventurer, journalist, author, and true chess buff

When asked about his opinion of the royal game, and the rekindled debate in Norway on whether it is a sport or not, he showed a perfect understanding of the reality of professional play, and said that even from a purely physical perspective, it was clear that the player with the best physical shape would be best prepared to face the toils of long events and the inevitable exhaustion that would sink in at the end. As he left, the game between Carlsen and Hao was reaching its crux.

Magnus Carlsen wrote on Twitter: Tough loss in @NorwayChess, now sharing 2.place with Anand before last round. Too many bad decisions today, got what I deserved in the end.

The game between Magnus Carlsen and Wang Hao seemed to be a typical game by the Norwegian. The opening was nothing unusual as they played a Symmetrical English with neither side getting anything special. It was fairly balanced and went into an endgame where Carlsen hoped to outplay his opponent as he has done to so many others. Somehow, that is not at all what happened, and Magnus went deeply astray as he lost a pawn, but even so the general feeling was that Carlsen would suffer but draw. Most grandmasters were not especially interested in the foregone conclusion and merely awaited the expected result to be announced. Instead, Magnus went on to badly misplay the ending and found himself in a very iffy position. His final and deciding mistake was 64.Kg2? which left the Chinese player with a choice between two winning moves, and the rest he was able to calculate to the end.

This astonishing turn of events left the podium wide open with Sergey Karjakin on 5.5/8 and both Magnus Carlsen and Vishy Anand on 5.0/8. In the event of a tie for first, the top finishers will play a blitz match, or tournament if three tie for first, to decide the winner. Don’t miss it.

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[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "8"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2608"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} g6 {0} 3. Nc3 {0} d5 {0} 4. cxd5 {7} Nxd5 {0} 5. Bd2 {4} Bg7 {117} 6. e4 {19} Nxc3 {6} 7. Bxc3 {5} O-O {93} 8. Qd2 {280} c5 {186 } 9. d5 {20} Bxc3 {656} 10. bxc3 {24} e6 {6} 11. d6 {89} e5 {336} 12. h4 {248} Be6 {290} 13. Nh3 {615} Qxh4 {958} 14. O-O-O {134} Qxe4 {893} 15. Bd3 {776} Qa4 {111} 16. Ng5 {134} Qxa2 {422} 17. Qe3 {301} Qa3+ {935} 18. Kd2 {11} Qb2+ {38} 19. Bc2 {112} Bf5 {340} 20. Rc1 {55} Rd8 {108} 21. Nxf7 {138} Kxf7 {127} 22. Qxe5 {26} Rxd6+ {187} 23. Qxd6 {8} Nc6 {12} 24. Rxh7+ {420} Kg8 {5} 25. Rd7 { 552} Re8 {178} 26. Qf6 {261} Bxd7 {11} 27. Qxg6+ {12} Kf8 {1} 28. Qf6+ {10} Kg8 {4} 29. Rh1 {41} Re2+ {192} 30. Kxe2 {11} Nd4+ {11} 31. cxd4 {5} Qxc2+ {7} 32. Ke3 {17} Qc3+ {11} 33. Kf4 {6} Qxd4+ {17} 34. Qxd4 {4} cxd4 {9} 35. Ke4 {4} a5 {40} 36. Kxd4 {11} a4 {8} 37. Kc3 {6} b5 {20} 38. Kb4 {10} Kf7 {40} 39. Rh7+ {7 } Ke6 {6} 40. g4 {6} Be8 {20} 41. f4 {2976} Kf6 {2976} 42. Rh6+ {0} Kg7 {0} 43. g5 {0} Bg6 {0} 44. Rh3 {0} Bf5 {0} 45. Re3 {0} 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "8"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A30"] [WhiteElo "2868"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "158"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. c4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {6} Nc6 {0} 3. Nc3 {10} e5 {0} 4. d3 {37} d6 {71} 5. a3 {84} a5 {123} 6. g3 {24} Nge7 {191} 7. Bg2 {23} g6 {7} 8. Bg5 {19} Bg7 {136} 9. Bxe7 {46} Qxe7 {167} 10. O-O {17} O-O {9} 11. Nd2 {87} Be6 {105} 12. Rb1 {329} Rfc8 {424} 13. Nd5 {389} Qd8 {19} 14. b4 {62} axb4 {95} 15. axb4 {6} Bxd5 {32} 16. Bxd5 {3} cxb4 {7} 17. Ne4 {268} Rc7 {446} 18. Qd2 {506} Kh8 {282} 19. Ra1 { 399} Rb8 {594} 20. Rfb1 {107} h6 {19} 21. Bxc6 {501} bxc6 {151} 22. Rxb4 {5} d5 {275} 23. Rxb8 {416} Qxb8 {18} 24. Nd6 {167} e4 {1630} 25. Ra6 {188} exd3 {536} 26. exd3 {465} Kh7 {209} 27. Kg2 {699} dxc4 {270} 28. dxc4 {10} Rd7 {176} 29. c5 {307} Bf8 {132} 30. Rb6 {542} Qc7 {178} 31. Rb3 {155} Qa7 {64} 32. Rc3 {842} Bxd6 {132} 33. cxd6 {2} Qa5 {8} 34. h4 {221} Rxd6 {58} 35. Qe3 {62} Qd5+ {49} 36. Qf3 {18} h5 {198} 37. Qxd5 {50} cxd5 {4} 38. Kf3 {7} Kg7 {12} 39. Rc7 {15} Kf6 {17} 40. Ke3 {9} Ra6 {155} 41. Rd7 {333} Ke6 {0} 42. Rb7 {0} Ra3+ {107} 43. Kf4 {0} Ra4+ {0} 44. Ke3 {0} Re4+ {27} 45. Kd3 {0} Re1 {81} 46. Rb6+ {196} Kf5 {0} 47. Rb7 {116} f6 {34} 48. Rd7 {155} Re5 {239} 49. f3 {680} Ke6 {486} 50. Rg7 {0} g5 {0} 51. Rh7 {386} g4 {270} 52. fxg4 {321} hxg4 {0} 53. Rg7 {0} f5 { 37} 54. Rg6+ {79} Kf7 {0} 55. Ra6 {42} Re1 {76} 56. Kd2 {365} Rg1 {777} 57. Ra3 {0} Rg2+ {0} 58. Ke1 {0} Kf6 {0} 59. Kf1 {63} Rc2 {49} 60. Ra6+ {189} Ke5 {45} 61. h5 {1040} Rh2 {1732} 62. h6 {5} d4 {42} 63. Kg1 {65} Rh3 {9} 64. Kg2 {0} d3 {0} 65. Ra5+ {0} Kd4 {0} 66. Ra4+ {0} Kc3 {0} 67. Ra6 {0} d2 {0} 68. Rc6+ {0} Kd3 {0} 69. Rd6+ {0} Kc2 {0} 70. Rc6+ {0} Kd1 {0} 71. Rd6 {0} f4 {0} 72. gxf4 { 0} Ke2 {0} 73. Re6+ {0} Re3 {0} 74. Rxe3+ {0} Kxe3 {0} 75. h7 {0} d1=Q {0} 76. h8=Q {0} Qf3+ {0} 77. Kg1 {0} Qf2+ {0} 78. Kh1 {0} Qf1+ {0} 79. Kh2 {0} g3+ {0} 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "8"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E53"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2813"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nc3 {0} Bb4 {0} 4. e3 {0} O-O {1} 5. Bd3 {1} d5 {21} 6. Nf3 {7} c5 {6} 7. O-O {7} cxd4 {8} 8. exd4 {5} dxc4 {4} 9. Bxc4 {5} b6 {3} 10. Qe2 {273} Bb7 {28} 11. Rd1 {90} Nbd7 {17} 12. d5 {91} Bxc3 {13} 13. dxe6 {35} Bxf3 {6} 14. gxf3 {120} fxe6 {17} 15. bxc3 {78} Qc7 {3} 16. Bxe6+ {58} Kh8 {25} 17. Qc4 {4} Qb7 {5} 18. Bxd7 {46} Nxd7 {42} 19. Qd5 {8} Qxd5 {54} 20. Rxd5 {7} Nc5 {17} 21. Be3 {10} Rxf3 {16} 22. Re1 {10} Ne6 {227} 23. a4 {23} Rf7 {311} 24. a5 {589} h6 {33} 25. axb6 {502} axb6 {3} 26. Bxb6 {24} Nf4 {16} 27. Ra5 {682} Rb8 {1136} 28. Bd4 {1002} Rb2 {127} 29. Ra7 {72} Rxa7 {28} 30. Bxa7 {7} Rc2 {40} 31. Bd4 {346} Kh7 {6} 32. h4 {375} g5 {79} 33. hxg5 {348} hxg5 {9} 34. Re5 {469} Kg6 {37} 35. Kh2 {4} Nd3 {65} 36. Re6+ {38} Kf5 {25} 37. Re8 {265} Kg4 {34} 38. Re4+ {259} Nf4 {64} 39. Re1 {44} Ne2 {53} 40. Kg2 {23} Nxc3 {34} 41. Bxc3 {3018} Rxc3 {2975} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "8"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B32"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} e5 {0} 5. Nb5 {5} d6 {0} 6. N1c3 {43} a6 {10} 7. Na3 {5} b5 {10} 8. Nd5 {7} Nf6 {5} 9. c4 {23} b4 {130} 10. Nxf6+ {588} Qxf6 {96} 11. Nc2 {6} Be7 {16} 12. g3 {63} h5 { 216} 13. h3 {283} Qg6 {1090} 14. Bg2 {38} h4 {546} 15. g4 {78} O-O {573} 16. O-O {188} Be6 {328} 17. Ne3 {137} Rac8 {496} 18. b3 {398} Rfd8 {957} 19. a3 {39 } bxa3 {241} 20. Nf5 {145} Bg5 {629} 21. Rxa3 {65} a5 {211} 22. Bb2 {170} Rd7 { 478} 23. Bc3 {41} Bd8 {4} 24. Kh1 {759} Qh7 {148} 25. f4 {467} Bb6 {218} 26. Ra2 {24} Bc5 {100} 27. Rd2 {502} f6 {223} 28. Nxd6 {83} Rb8 {4} 29. fxe5 {152} fxe5 {9} 30. Nf5 {200} g6 {70} 31. Nh6+ {411} Kh8 {7} 32. Rf6 {8} Rxd2 {103} 33. Bxd2 {250} Qd7 {8} 34. Qe1 {440} Kg7 {23} 35. Rf1 {291} Rxb3 {6} 36. Bg5 { 30} Qd3 {88} 37. Nf7 {168} Qg3 {29} 38. Qd2 {104} Bxc4 {27} 39. Bf6+ {83} Kf8 { 4} 40. Nxe5 {85} Qxh3+ {64} 41. Bxh3 {2975} 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.17"] [Round "8"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {0} Nf6 {0} 4. d3 {0} Bc5 {0} 5. c3 {0} O-O {1} 6. O-O {1} d6 {6} 7. h3 {19} Ne7 {88} 8. d4 {9} Bb6 {6} 9. Re1 {6} d5 {190} 10. Nxe5 {32} Nxe4 {14} 11. Nd2 {163} Nxd2 {975} 12. Bxd2 {80} f6 {23} 13. Nd3 {590} Bd7 {1089} 14. a4 {87} c6 {1177} 15. a5 {20} Bxa5 {10} 16. Nc5 {7 } Bc8 {18} 17. Bd3 {36} Bb6 {177} 18. Ne6 {154} Bxe6 {16} 19. Rxe6 {3} Ng6 {298 } 20. Qh5 {867} Re8 {161} 21. Rae1 {1250} Rxe6 {36} 22. Rxe6 {12} Nf8 {296} 23. Re3 {41} Bc7 {285} 24. g3 {27} b5 {300} 25. h4 {506} Bd6 {183} 26. b3 {389} a5 {419} 27. c4 {24} bxc4 {78} 28. bxc4 {17} Bb4 {5} 29. Bc1 {415} a4 {110} 30. Bb1 {17} Qb6 {225} 31. cxd5 {357} Bd6 {246} 32. Ba2 {303} c5 {7} 33. Re7 {237} Kh8 {100} 34. Rf7 {464} Kg8 {93} 35. Re7 {142} Kh8 {8} 36. Qf7 {472} Bxe7 {12} 37. d6 {1} Ng6 {69} 38. dxe7 {21} Nxe7 {18} 39. Qxe7 {12} cxd4 {6} 40. Qe4 {192 } Rc8 {422} 41. Bf4 {464} Rd8 {902} 42. Qe7 {1080} Rc8 {212} 43. Qe4 {167} Rd8 {0} 44. Qe7 {104} Rc8 {0} 45. h5 {482} Qd8 {325} 46. Qb7 {70} h6 {162} 47. Be6 {313} Rc3 {699} 48. Qf7 {190} a3 {52} 49. Bd6 {83} Qa8 {270} 50. Bd5 {51} a2 { 91} 51. Bxa8 {27} a1=Q+ {0} 52. Kh2 {0} Qe1 {18} 53. Kh3 {0} Rc8 {213} 54. Bf8 {0} Rxf8 {0} 55. Qxf8+ {0} Kh7 {0} 56. Bd5 {0} Qf1+ {0} 57. Kh4 {0} 1-0

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Pictures by the official site

Standings after eight rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date	Round	English	German
May 18	Round 9	Maurice Ashley	Klaus Bischoff

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao	½-½	Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov	0-1	Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	0-1	Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler	1-0	Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian		Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao		Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov		Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin		Veselin Topalov

Ramirez: Playing Kamsky under Pressure

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:52:58 GMT

US Championships: The Playoff against Gata Kamsky

As reported Gata Kamsky and Alejandro Ramirez tied for first in the 2013 US Championship, each scoring 6.5/9 points. Both players had drawn their face-to-face battle in round eight; Kamksy was undefeated with four wins and five draws, while Ramirez had a loss but also one more win. All this necessitated a playoff for the title.

The playoff took place on Monday, May 13. In all three hours of competition, and for more than 150 moves, Gata Kamsky (above) was the aggressor, but he found himself unable to break through the stalwart and creative endgame defense of Ramirez – until the waning moments. “It feels a bit awkward,” Kamsky said. “I consider us equals. Someone just got luckier than the other.”

The suprise challenger to Kamsky's supreme dominance in the 2013 US Championship was Alejandro Tadeo Ramírez Álvarez. Ramirez was born in San José, Costa Rica, June 21, 1988 and at the age of 15, he became the first Centro-American to achieve the Grandmaster chess title, and at the time also became the second youngest chess grandmaster in the world. Alej started playing chess at the age of four after watching the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer", and with the guidance of his father and mentor Jorge Ramírez, made rapid progress. At the age of 13 he earned a notable draw against Russian super grandmaster Alexander Morozevich during the Chess Olympiad 2002 in Bled.

The first grandmaster norm was obtained at the age of 14 by scoring 7.0/9 at the Capablanca in Memoriam Tournament in La Habana in May 2003. The second norm was obtained at the age of 15, when he tied for first place in the Zonal Tournament in Guayaquil, Ecuador. In this tournament Alejandro also got the right to participate in the World Chess Championship 2004, becoming the only centro-American ever to participate in such a magnum event, which was held in Libya. He obtained his third norm at the age of 15, gaining seven points in the Los Inmortales Tournament at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in November 2003.

Ramírez won first place in the Morelia Open 2008 and first place in the US Chess Open 2010 held in Irvine, California. In January 2011 he stopped representing Costa Rica, and is now listed as a US Chess player. He lives in Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from the University of Texas with a Masters Degree in Arts & Technology / Design and Production of Videogames. He is now a co-editor of the ChessBase news site, where his technical expertise, quick-witted personality and entertaining writing style are greatly appreciated. He has recorded three training DVDs so far – the first was published at the beginning of this year, the other two will follow in the coming weeks.

The playoff – summaries by FM Mike Klein

Games one and two of the playoff for the 2013 US Championship were played at a time control of 25 minutes per player with a five second increment per move. Ramirez seemed determined not to get behind on the clock, but an early misstep allowed Kamsky to embed a knight on d5. Shortly after, Black’s pawns were crippled, but Ramirez found all the necessary countermeasures to prevent any white pawn from reaching paydirt. Of the many players who were spectating, GM Robert Hess said Kamsky did not need to be so quick to exchange his best piece.

Things getting really tense – Kamsky attacking, Ramirez defending precisely

[Event "USA Championship 2013 tiebreak"] [Site "Saint Louis"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2551"] [BlackElo "2741"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "USA"] {Trying to beat Kamsky is not an easy task, but I thought I would have a better shot at it in the Spanish than on his a6 Slavs. Also, I didn't think he would be expecting 1. e4} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. h3 {I didn't really know what I was doing, this move seemed natural enough.} Qd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Ba2 b4 13. Nd5 (13. Ne2 {was another possibility.}) 13... Nxd5 14. Bxd5 c6 15. Ba2 c5 16. c3 Bc6 17. Bd5 $6 {This is the beginning of all my problems. As soon as I played it I thought about asking for a takeback...} (17. d4 c4 $5 18. dxe5 Bxa4 {I thought was complex, but the engine says I have Qd5 with an advantage.}) 17... bxc3 18. bxc3 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rab8 20. c4 {Unfortunately my position is not great as my a-pawn is rather weak and I don't have anything going on anywhere on the board. Thankfully through some tactics I'm able to solve the first problem.} Nb3 21. Rb1 Nxc1 22. Qxc1 Qxa4 23. Ra1 Qb3 24. Ra3 $1 {An important intermediate move. The a6 pawn won't be going anywhere soon and White can take it at leisure.} Qb7 25. Qa1 f5 26. Rxa6 Ra8 27. Ra2 $1 Rxa2 28. Qxa2 Ra8 29. Rb1 Rxa2 30. Rxb7 Bf6 {Here I started getting worried about e4. I saw the alternative g4 but I thought it was a bit too risky. Without that move the position became very uncomfortable though.} 31. Rb8+ (31. g4 $1 e4 32. dxe4 fxe4 33. g5 Bd4 34. g6 $1 hxg6 35. Rb8+ Kf7 36. Ng5+ $11) 31... Kf7 32. Rb7+ Ke8 33. Rb1 Kd7 34. Rd1 {A little passive but I thought I was holding.} h5 35. g4 $5 hxg4 36. hxg4 e4 $1 {Kamsky shuts down the e4 square from my knight.} ( 36... fxg4 37. Nd2 $1 {And once the knight jumps to e4 White has no problems at all.}) 37. dxe4 fxg4 38. e5 $1 {And I push it open right back!} gxf3 39. exf6 gxf6 40. Rc1 f5 41. Rc3 {Here I thought the game was easily drawn, but Kamsky shows great technique and puts on the pressure.} Ke7 42. Re3+ Kf6 43. Re6+ Kg5 44. Rxd6 Rc2 45. Rc6 Kf4 46. Rh6 (46. Rxc5 {is the computer move, but it looked scary!} Rc1+ 47. Kh2 Rf1 48. d6 Rxf2+ 49. Kg1 Ra2 50. Rc8 $1 {but Black only has a draw here of course.} Rd2 51. c5) 46... Kg5 47. Rh8 Rxc4 48. d6 Rd4 49. Rc8 Rxd6 50. Rxc5 {With the pawns traded off, the draw becomes clearer.} Kg4 51. Rc4+ Kh3 52. Rc1 Rg6+ {By this point I was beyond exhausted. I briefly considered playing 53. Kf1 which gets mated by Kh2. Oops :)} 53. Kh1 Rg2 54. Rc2 {I know Kamsky was tired too - he was surprised at this move!} Rg7 55. Rc3 Kg4 56. Rc4+ f4 57. Rc8 Kf5 58. Rc3 Ke4 59. Rc4+ $1 {Of course Black has no way to break through, but I calculated this line to a draw.} Kd3 60. Rxf4 Ke2 61. Ra4 {Rook on the long side is a draw in Lucena positions.} Kxf2 62. Ra2+ Kg3 63. Kg1 Rb7 64. Rg2+ $1 {The only drawing move, but sufficient. Kamsky also missed this move, he shook his head when I played it, smiled at the audience and offered me a draw.} 1/2-1/2

Draw agreed in game one

Game two

After a short break, the players switched colors and resumed the rapid play. This time Kamsky broke through on the queenside, and probed Ramirez’s position with his rook. The minor pieces traded and another rook-and-pawn ending was reached, with Kamsky having all the chances.

Onec again Ramirez was up to the task, using a stalemate tactic to extend the tiebreak

The rare ending to a grandmaster game caused the supremely focused Kamsky to look at the crowd and laugh. Later, he said he had almost the same ending at the World Cup in 2011 against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, but was able to win that game.

[Event "ch-USA Playoff 2013"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "1"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2551"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2013.05.13"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 {e5/d5 is supposed to be the refutation of this early system, but I decided to play more cautiously.} g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Qc7 {I just kind of made this up during the game. I'm attacking c4 and forcing b3.} 8. Na3 d6 9. b3 a6 10. Bb2 Nc6 11. Qd2 Bd7 12. Rac1 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 {White's awkward knight on a3 means that Black has good chances at equality.} Bc6 14. Nb5 {But with this he fixes it. Now he is slightly better.} Qd7 15. Nc3 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 b5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Rac8 19. cxb5 Qxb5 20. Nxf6+ exf6 21. e3 Rc6 22. Rxc6 Qxc6+ 23. Kg1 Rc8 24. Rd1 {White's structure is far superior to Black's, so I get to be tortured for forever now.} Qc2 25. Qxc2 Rxc2 26. a4 (26. Rxd6 Rxa2 27. Rxf6 Kg7 28. Rb6 h5 $1 {is an endgame that I was pretty sure I could hold.}) 26... Rc6 27. Rd4 Kf8 28. Rb4 Ke7 29. Rb7+ Ke6 30. a5 Rc2 (30... h5 $1 {was so much better than what I did. I still get to suffer, but much less.}) 31. g4 h5 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. Kg2 f5 34. Rb6 Rb2 35. Kf3 Ke5 {White is a lot better, but it's unclear exactly how he is going to make progress.} 36. Rxa6 Rxb3 37. Ra8 Ra3 38. a6 f4 39. a7 Kf5 40. Ke2 fxe3 41. fxe3 h4 42. h3 Ra4 {White's rook is stuck, so now Kamsky will try to zugzwang my king back.} 43. Kd3 Kf6 44. Kc3 Ke7 45. Kb3 Ra1 46. Kc4 Ra5 47. Kb4 Ra1 48. Kb5 Rb1+ 49. Kc6 Rc1+ 50. Kd5 Rc5+ 51. Ke4 Ra5 52. Kf4 Kf6 53. Kg4 Ra4+ 54. Kh5 Kf5 55. e4+ Kf6 56. Kxh4 d5 57. Kg3 dxe4 {now the draw is obvious, as the endgame is drawn even without Black's e and f pawns.} 58. Kf4 Kg7 59. h4 Kh7 60. h5 Kg7 61. h6+ Kh7 62. Ke3 f5 63. Kf4 Ra6 {I survived!} 1/2-1/2

The Armageddon

The rules dictated that in case of a 1-1 tie, the playoff would end in an Armageddon match, where players bid for time and color. In sealed envelopes, Ramirez wrote the time 19:45, while Kamsky’s envelope read 20 minutes even. Ramirez thus got 19:45 to Kamsky’s 45 minutes, while Ramirez had black and draw odds.

The two reprised the opening from their first rapid game. Kamsky, needing to win, decided to keep all the minor pieces on the board this time. He slowly increased his square domination while Ramirez listlessly shuffled pieces round the last two ranks. Eventually Kamsky pushed forward, and Ramirez, getting low on time, decided to take his chances in an opposite-colored bishop endgame.

With Ramirez playing only on increment, he could not defend once Kamsky got his third passed pawn. Ramirez resigned after Kamsky denuded black’s best defenders. After the game, Kamsky told Ramirez that 37…e5 was the critical mistake, without which Black should hold. Ramirez agreed, explaining that he did not see 39…g4 in his calculations. “I was starting to get really nervous,” Kamsky said. “It wasn’t clear until the last move.”

[Event "ch-USA Playoff 2013"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "3"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2551"] [Annotator "Ramirez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2013.05.13"] {Going into the Armageddon I can't really describe how I felt. It was a combination of exhausted and nervous and happy and excited. Here we go!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Qc7 {This random move worked last time so I played it again.} 8. Na3 d6 {Kamsky spent a good ten minutes in this position, which made me very nervous. If he could play 9.Nab5 I would probably be slightly worse.} 9. Ndb5 (9. Nab5 Qxc4 10. Be3 Na6 11. b3 Qc5 $1 {seems like Black holds though.}) 9... Qd8 10. Bg5 Nc6 11. Qd2 a6 12. Nc3 Bf5 13. e4 Be6 14. Nd5 Nd7 15. Rac1 Rc8 16. b3 Re8 17. h3 {The computer thinks I'm fine, but this position is quite unpleasant under time pressure, as Black has no constructive plan.} Nde5 18. Kh1 Rb8 19. Nc2 Qd7 20. Nb6 (20. f4 h6 21. Bh4 g5 22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. fxe5 Nxe5 24. Qxg5 Bxh3 {is very unclear, Kamsky wants to keep the pressure without allowing counterplay.}) 20... Qd8 21. Be3 Nd7 22. Nd5 Nc5 23. f4 b5 24. cxb5 axb5 25. f5 Bxd5 $6 (25... Bd7 {was preferable, but I was worried about} 26. Bg5 {since f6 is a dangerous threat.}) 26. exd5 Ne5 27. Nb4 Qa5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. Rxc5 Rbc8 $2 {Kamsky spent a lot of time again on this move, but he found a really nice sequence.} ( 29... Nd3 $1 30. Qxd3 Qxb4 {would have made White's task incredibly hard. He is up a pawn but the opposite colored bishops and Black's activity gives him chances to hold.}) 30. Rxc8 $1 Rxc8 31. fxg6 hxg6 32. Qf4 $1 {I underestimated this powerful move. Now Black has no way of stopping the knight coming to c6 and giving White a strong passed pawn.} Qc7 (32... g5 $2 33. Qf5 $1 {is lights out.}) 33. a4 bxa4 34. bxa4 f5 35. Nc6 Nxc6 36. Qxc7 Rxc7 37. dxc6 {This endgame is very difficult for Black, but it might be a draw. I haven't fully analyzed it yet, but I didn't think I'd survive during the game. That being said here came my blunder.} e5 $4 {In time pressure, I completely forgot that White can play g4.} 38. Bd5+ Kf8 39. g4 {and now the game is over. Black can't allow his pawns to be blockaded and his bishop to become passive. Here I jettisoned my pawns, but it's not enough.} Ke7 40. gxf5 gxf5 41. Rxf5 Kd6 42. Bf3 Ra7 43. Rg5 e4 {desperation, but the e-pawn was rather useless anyways.} 44. Bxe4 Be5 45. Rg6+ Kc5 46. Bf3 $1 {Most precise, now the a-pawn is untouchable.} Kb6 (46... Rxa4 47. c7 Bxc7 48. Rc6+) 47. Rg5 Ra5 48. h4 Kc7 49. h5 Kd6 50. h6 Rxa4 51. Rxe5 Kxe5 52. c7 {and I had to resign. A masterful performance by Kamsky, who gave me no chances in the entire playoff.} 1-0

Ramirez said the experience of playing worse positions was “torture”, then he was reminded that he still pockets $20,000. “I’ve never won that much in chess, ever,” he said.

Photos by Tony Rich, Saint Louis Chess Club

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The joys of chess – Refuting the refutation

Thu, 16 May 2013 21:05:55 GMT

Refuting the refutation

By Prof. Christian Hesse

The reverse also has a reverse – Japanese proverb

In his parable The garden of forking paths the writer Jorge Luis Borges examines the relationship between past, present and future. What has gone before is stored up as facts, the future is a developing and dynamic process in which – in whatever manner – one of the logically possible continuations is selected.

This is a metaphor which quite fits the development of a game of chess over time. In chess it is the players who at each fork in the path take decisions as to what course their journey will take. They make these decisions by following with their imagination some of the possible ramifications to as great a depth as they can, by constructing according to their experience an evaluation of the position which will have been reached, and thus coming to a decision about their next move based on calculation and intuition.

The choice of just about each move is the result of evaluations which take some steps in time into the future of the actual position. Thus it is understandable that a manœuvre can sometimes be refuted by another one which arose on the basis of a more far-reaching vision of the future, and that the latter in its turn can be refuted by even deeper analysis, etc.

Position 202 with all its apparent latent energy is an illustration of this process of successive refutations by ever deeper mining operations. On seeing this landscape on the board, one irresistibly thinks that the end is nigh – but whose end?

N. N.–N. N., 1944

Black to move

Black acutely had to worry at once about the threatened mate on h7 and came up with the multi-purpose move 1...Rc7!!. White spontaneously resigned, since he had hallucinations about losing a rook. He spotted the sad fact that taking the agent provocateur leads to mate: 2.Qxc7 Qf3+ 3.Kg1 Qg2# or, even worse, 2.Rxc7 Qd1#.

The subtle counter to the rook move by 2.b5!! with the threat of 3.Bf8+ and mate did not occur to him. In analysis it was thought that Black would then have nothing better than seeking salvation in a draw with 2...Qd1+! 3.Rxd1 Rxb7. But there are also holes in this drawing idea, because the riposte 2.b5 was in its turn parried with a deeper insight into the microstructure of the position: instead of 2...Qd1+ Black can play for a win with the counter-parry 2...Qe2!!, because after 3.Bf8+ Kh5 4.Rxh7+ Kg4 White is mated in four moves at most. An operation which appears to win the day for Black.

But once again there is a reversal of fate: White does not make use of 3.Bf8+, but refutes Black’s winning attempt with the counter-offensive 3.Rxh7+!! Kung Fu fighting!! If Black now continues with his intended 3...Rxh7, then after 4.Bf8+ Kh5 5.Qxh7+ Kg4 6.Qxg6+ Kf3 7.Qh5+ Ng4 8.Qd5+ Kxf4 9.Bd6+ he has had it this time, because White wins the endgame. One flash of wit meets another!

But even then the last word has not yet been said: you see, Black’s best reply to the rook check 3.Rxh7+!! is 3...Kxh7! 4.Qxc7+ and he finally takes flight with 4...Kg8 into a position where he can expect a perpetual series of checks, because 4...Kh6 5.Bf8+ Kh5 6.Qh7+ Kg4 7.Qxg6+ Kf3 8.Qh5+ Ng4 9.Qd5+ Kxf4 10.Bd6+ would once more be favourable for White. So, all in all, a draw!

Is that the heart of the matter? Or can further deep-mining operations come up with something significantly different? The question remains open. But even as such, the above position is a metaphor for genuine fighting chess, a wild, good-going brawl with an open exchange of blows, in which every tempo demands the greatest of precision in positions loaded with dangers for both sides and where the analysis is marked by a series of delightful about-turns in the evaluation.

Replay the position and variations on our JavaScript board

[Event "Christian Hesse"] [Site "?"] [Date "1944.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "N.N."] [Black "N.N."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r5/1Q1R3p/1p4pk/7q/1P3P2/B3n3/7P/7K b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "7"] 1... Rc7 $3 2. b5 $3 {with the threat Bf8 mate.} (2. Qxc7 Qf3+ 3. Kg1 Qg2#) (2. Rxc7 Qd1#) 2... Qe2 $3 (2... Qd1+ 3. Rxd1 Rxb7 $11) 3. Rxh7+ $3 (3. Bf8+ Kh5 4. Rxh7+ Kg4 {and White is mated in four moves at the most.}) 3... Kxh7 $1 (3... Rxh7 4. Bf8+ Kh5 5. Qxh7+ Kg4 6. Qxg6+ Kf3 7. Qh5+ Ng4 8. Qd5+ Kxf4 9. Bd6+ { and White wins the endgame.}) 4. Qxc7+ Kg8 {and Black can expect a series of perpetual checks.} (4... Kh6 5. Bf8+ Kh5 6. Qh7+ Kg4 7. Qxg6+ Kf3 8. Qh5+ Ng4 9. Qd5+ Kxf4 10. Bd6+ {would once more be favourable for White.}) 1/2-1/2

Christian Hesse holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was on the faculty of the University of California at Berkeley until 1991. Since then he is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart (Germany). Subsequently he has been a visiting researcher and invited lecturer at universities around the world, ranging from the Australian National University, Canberra, to the University of Concepcion, Chile. Recently he authored “Expeditionen in die Schachwelt” (Expeditions into the world of chess, ISBN 3-935748-14-0), a collection of about 100 essays that the Viennese newspaper Der Standard called “one of the most intellectually scintillating and recommendable books on chess ever written.”

Christian Hesse is married, has an eleven-year-old daughter and an eight-year-old son. He lives in Mannheim and likes Voltaire's reply to the complaint: ”Life is hard” – “Compared to what?”.

The Joys of Chess

This is an unforgettable intellectual expedition to the remotest corners of the Royal Game. En route, intriguing thought experiments, strange insights and hilarious jokes will offer vistas you have never seen before. The beauty, the struggle, the culture, the fun, the art and the heroism of chess – you will find them all in this sparkling book that will give you many hours of intense joy.

Christian Hesse is a Harvard-trained professor of Mathematics who has taught at the University of California, Berkeley (USA), and since 1991 at the University of Stuttgart. He has written a textbook called 'Angewandte Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie'. Chess and literature are his main hobbies, and he also likes fitness and boxing. His heroes are the ones who fall to the bottom and rise again, fall and rise again…

From the foreword by World Champion Vishy Anand: "A rich compendium of spectacular highlights and defining moments from chess history: fantastic moves, beautiful combinations, historical blunders, captivating stories, and all this embedded into a plentitude of quick-witted ideas and contemplations as food for thought."

WGP Geneva: Khotenashvili wins with 8.0/11

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:00:42 GMT

Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva

The Neva Foundation in partnership with the Internation Chess Federation (FIDE) has organised the first leg of the official Women's Grand Prix series for the first time in Geneva. From May 3 to May 15, twelve of the best women players featuring current Women World Champion Anna Ushenina from Ukraine, will confront each other at the N'vY Manotel. The tournament is an eleven-round all-play-all at classical time controls.

Round eleven report (final)

Georgian IM and GM-to-be Bela Khotenashvili managed to play a draw against Anna Ushenina and won the tournament. Her nearest rival, Anna Muzychuk, had to win the game in order to catch the leader, but the Slovenian player didn’t get anything out of the opening and drew against Alexandra Kosteniuk.

“I’m very happy to win this tournament and consider this result as the best one in my career so far. I would like to thank Georgian chess federation, President of GCF Giya Giorgadze and our coach Davit Jojua for their help”, said Bela Khotenashvili at the final press conference.

Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545

It became clear in the final round how tired all players were, as they were making mistakes which don’t normally appear in their games.

Katerina Lagno overlooked the piece blunder of her opponent Batchimeg Tuvshintugs

Hou Yifan missed winning chances in the endgame and lost against Nana Dzagnidze

GM Tatiana Kosintseva (above right) had a very good position after the
opening but spent a lot of time and lost against Chinese IM Ju Wenjun

Full summaries of round 11 games here

Replay all games of the round

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A full summary of all games is to be found here on the official tournament site.

Final standings

Statistics

Of the 66 games played in Geneva:

20 games were won by White = 30.3%
31 games were drawn = 47.0%
15 games were won by Black = 22.7%

Information and photos supplied by FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich

The awards ceremony took place after the last game was finished and was attended by the Director General of the United Nations Office in Geneva Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the founder of Neva Fondation Elena Timtchenko, FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov, and FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg.

Bela Khotenashvili receives her trophy from Elena Timtchenko...

... and Anna Muzychuk her second place prize from UN Director in Geneva Tokayev

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Friday, May 3rd 2013 at 14:00
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
Round 2 on Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	½-½
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	1-0
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	1-0	2522
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	WGM	½-½	2298
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	½-½
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	0-1
Round 3 on Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
Round 4 on Monday, May 6th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
Round 6 on Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
Round 7 on Friday, May 10th 2013 at 14:00
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	0-1	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545

Norway 2013 Rd7: Karjakin, Carlsen, and Anand win

Wed, 15 May 2013 21:03:02 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

Round seven

Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao	½-½	Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov	0-1	Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura

It is getting to the point where one must ask oneself whether there isn’t some hidden aspect of Norway that lends itself to higher than usual levels of testosterone and a strong inclination to fight. Whatever the case, the Viking spirit continues to reign in the Norway Chess tournament as three of the five games ended in a decisive result. So far more than 50% of the games have ended with only one king standing, to the delight of the spectators.

Though the weather refused to cooperate, this was the view outside

The round today was held on the beautiful island of Flor & Fjaere and the players had to reach it by boat. Unfortunately the weather was cold and rainy, but as can be seen in the pictures, in sunnier conditions it must be breathtaking. Though the players have all expressed understanding of the desire to share the event with more than one locale in the country, they have also noted over the rounds that the constant moving and changes have added an extra strain beyond the usual in such a tournament.

The players had to arrive to the venue by boat

Wang Hao and Levon Aronian played an interesting game as the Armenian took risks in against Hao’s Reti to provoke chances to fight for a win as black, though this was not without genuine danger to himself. Wang Hao acquired a good advantage, though not decisive, and Aronian fought back and eventually drew.

After yesterday’s missed win, Vishy Anand was able to close the deal this time as he steamrolled Teimour Radjabov with on the black side of a Catalan with an ease only possible due to numerous mistakes by the Azeri. Anand commiserated as he commented alone in the press conference, but be that as it may, it only ended as incisively as it did because of the contrasting precision by the world champion. Whatever it is that ails the Azeri, he has withdrawn from the forthcoming FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki to be replaced by French GM Etienne Bacrot. As a result, Anand moves into third with 4.0/7.

A serene Anand had a very clear-cut win today and moves to third

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Radjabov-Anand:

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {0} d5 {0} 4. g3 {14} dxc4 {0} 5. Bg2 {18} c5 {4} 6. Qa4+ {225} Bd7 {136} 7. Qxc4 {78} Bc6 {25} 8. O-O {183} Nbd7 {54 } 9. Nc3 {324} (9. Be3) 9... Rc8 {149} 10. Be3 $2 {It's difficult to say exactly when Radjabov lost this game but certainly this was the start.} ({He should have played} 10. Qd3) 10... b5 $1 {Anand wins a lot of space in the queenside with tempo and is already better.} 11. Qd3 {168} b4 {44} 12. Nb1 {65} c4 {36} 13. Qc2 {5} Be7 {334} 14. a3 {265} b3 {A difficult move. Most players would choose a5 controlling the square c3 but the world champion plans to control the light squares and ...b3 is in line with this plan.} 15. Qc1 {49} Nb6 {30} 16. Nc3 {25} Nfd5 {156} 17. Bd2 {142} O-O {41} 18. Ne5 {801} ({Perhaps } 18. Re1 {is better but Black is better after} Nxc3 19. Bxc3 Be4) 18... Nxc3 { 57} 19. Bxc3 {4} Bxg2 {44} 20. Kxg2 {2} Na4 {42} 21. Re1 {512} (21. e4 f6 $1 22. Nf3 f5 $1 {and soon the black queen will go to d5.}) 21... f5 $1 {50} 22. f3 {231} Bg5 {192} 23. e3 {20} Bf6 {37 Black controls the light squares and White's bishop on c3 is a bad piece.} 24. e4 {325} Bxe5 {699} 25. dxe5 {3} fxe4 {28} 26. Rxe4 {75} Qd3 {39} 27. Re3 {28} Qd5 {245} 28. Qe1 {126} Rfd8 {16} 29. Rc1 {153} Qb5 {55 To play the decisive ...Rd3.} 30. Rd1 {1291} Rd3 {after this move White has no defense. Black will use one of the central open lines to invade the position.} 31. Rexd3 {6} ({If} 31. Rc1 Rcd8 32. h4 (32. Bb4 Nxb2) 32... Rxe3 33. Qxe3 Rd3 34. Qxa7 Nxc3 35. Rxc3 Rxc3 36. bxc3 h5 {avoiding perpetuals and the b-pawn wins the game.}) 31... cxd3 {9} 32. Bd4 {2} Qc4 {25} 33. Be3 {807} Nxb2 {15} 34. Rc1 {3} d2 {11 A great strategic game by Anand!} ( 34... d2 35. Qxd2 ({If} 35. Bxd2 Nd3 $1 36. Rxc4 Nxe1+ 37. Bxe1 Rxc4 {and the pawn will queen.}) 35... Qxc1 36. Qxc1 Rxc1 37. Bxc1 Nd3 38. Bg5 b2) 0-1

Peter Svidler and Veselin Topalov played a Sicilian Moscow that has been quite popular of late though it quickly degenerated into an endgame. Svidler had hoped to play for an edge, and was quite critical of himself in the post-mortem, as he explained that his gut had been to play 24.b4 instead of 24.f4 as in the game, but for whatever reason he talked himself out of it, which he was not happy about.

Sergey Karjakin is not about to relinquish his pole position without a fight

Tournament leader Sergey Karjakin played Hikaru Nakamura and after his close call against Anand the day before, his state of mind was unclear. The two played a Sicilian Najdorf, with a Dragon flavor, in which the American started out with good chances, but missed the most precise continuation such as 15…Rac8. Nakamura’s inaccuracies led to a very bad position where he gave up the queen for rook and knight and could only wait to see how long it would take Karjakin to put him out of his misery. The Russian did and secured his lead with an anxious Carlsen breathing down his neck.

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Karjakin-Nakamura:

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {0} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5. Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 6. Bg5 {6} Nbd7 {5} 7. Qe2 {23} g6 {A strange but playable mix between Najdorf and Dragon.} 8. O-O-O {165} Bg7 {23} 9. f4 {540} Qa5 {485} 10. g3 {1182} h6 {357} 11. Bxf6 {397} Nxf6 {25} 12. Bg2 {386} Bg4 {469} 13. Bf3 {14 } Bxf3 {4} 14. Qxf3 {67} O-O {200} 15. Rhe1 {24} Nd7 {576} 16. Nb3 {237} Qc7 { A necessary retreat since after} (16... Qd8 17. e5 {is strong.}) 17. Nd5 {24} Qd8 {4} 18. h4 $1 {Slow but very good. If Black plays h5 then White can play g4 later otherwise White will advance this pawn and open Black's king.} Rc8 { 172} (18... h5) 19. h5 {421} e6 {535} 20. Nc3 {20 Curious. Krajakin is not worried about doubling pawns.} (20. Ne3 {seems more natural.}) 20... Bxc3 {138} 21. bxc3 {8} Qf6 {1} 22. hxg6 {203} fxg6 {338} (22... Rxc3 {was the computer option}) 23. Rxd6 {310} Ne5 $2 {A serious and maybe decisive mistake.} (23... Rxc3 {was necessary.}) 24. Qh1 {108} (24. Qd1 {was also strong.} Nc4 25. e5) 24... Nc4 {7} 25. e5 {8} Qf7 {1} 26. Rd4 {229} h5 {23} 27. Qe4 {With this pawn structure, control of the open line, and a centralized queen, White is winning. } b5 {173} 28. Red1 {150} Rc7 {728} 29. Nc5 $1 {26 The decisive move, forcing the penetration on the seventh rank.} Rxc5 {There is no solution for Black.} ( 29... Nb6 30. Nxe6 Qxe6 31. Rd6 {and the knight on b6 is falling as well as the g6 pawn.}) 30. Rd7 {21} Rc7 {2} (30... Qe8 31. Qb7 Rf7 32. Rxf7 Qxf7 33. Rd8+ Kg7 34. Rd7) 31. Rxf7 {28} Kxf7 {2} 32. g4 {Though the White win is slow, it is also easy and Sergey does his job.} hxg4 {48} 33. Rh1 {153} Kg7 {95} 34. Qg2 {16} Rh8 {48} 35. Rxh8 {9} Kxh8 {2} 36. Qxg4 {12} Rh7 {12} 37. Qd1 {53} Rf7 {10} 38. Qd4 {135} Kg7 {124} 39. Kd1 {44} g5 {83} 40. fxg5 {179} Kg6 {98} 41. Qh4 {3009} Nxe5 {3043} 42. Qh3 {0} Kxg5 {93} 43. Qxe6 {0} Rf5 {0} 44. Qxa6 {0} Nc4 {0} 45. Ke2 {20} Re5+ {0} 46. Kf2 {0} Ne3 {0} 47. Qa7 {0} Ng4+ {0} 48. Kf3 {0} Rf5+ {0} 49. Ke2 {0} Re5+ {0} 50. Kd2 {0} Rd5+ {0} 51. Kc1 {0} Kf4 {0} 52. Qf7+ {0} Ke4 {0} 53. Qh7+ {0} Kf4 {0} 54. Qh4 {0} Re5 {0} 55. Kb2 {0} Kf3 {0} 56. c4 {0} Ne3 {0} 57. Qf6+ {0} Ke4 {0} 58. Qc6+ {0} Kd4 {0} 59. Qd6+ {0} 1-0

The Battle of the Vikings begins

Magnus Carlsen supposedly played his easiest opponent today, Jon Hammer, rated over 250 Elo less, but that was not the whole story. He has usually had trouble playing his best against his compatriot, and this was one of the greatest reasons the outcome was not as clear cut as one would expect. Hammer played an Open Catalan and accounted himself quite well as he never let Magnus show so much as the shadow of an advantage. As the time control approached, this changed, and several mistakes by Jon left him with a hopeless endgame and he resigned on move 40.

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Karjakin vs Nakamura and Hammer vs Carlsen

Replay all games

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Svidler, Peter"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2769"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {0} 3. Bb5+ {0} Nd7 {0} 4. O-O {2} Ngf6 {0} 5. d4 {231} cxd4 {54} 6. Qxd4 {13} a6 {302} 7. Bxd7+ {117} Bxd7 {6} 8. Bg5 {57} e6 {7} 9. Nbd2 {561} Bc6 {489} 10. Rfd1 {494} Be7 {419} 11. e5 {742} dxe5 {27} 12. Qxd8+ {67} Rxd8 {18} 13. Nxe5 {6} Rd5 {515} 14. Ndf3 {51} Rxd1+ {183} 15. Rxd1 {7} Be4 {356} 16. Rd4 {661} Bxf3 {150} 17. Nxf3 {348} Nd5 {64} 18. c4 {503} Nb4 {51} 19. Bxe7 {79} Kxe7 {8} 20. Ne5 {16} Rd8 {1011} 21. Rxd8 {17} Kxd8 {4} 22. a3 {6} Nc6 {3} 23. Nxc6+ {35} bxc6 {7} 24. f4 {522} c5 {220} 25. b4 {16} a5 { 139} 26. b5 {25} f5 {19} 27. Kf2 {160} a4 {21} 28. Kg3 {64} g6 {16} 29. Kh4 { 163} h6 {11} 30. g4 {15} Kd7 {10} 31. gxf5 {13} exf5 {6} 32. Kg3 {3} Kc7 {10} 33. h4 {5} h5 {5} 34. Kf2 {4} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2783"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {0} d5 {0} 4. g3 {14} dxc4 {0} 5. Bg2 {18} c5 {4} 6. Qa4+ {225} Bd7 {136} 7. Qxc4 {78} Bc6 {25} 8. O-O {183} Nbd7 {54 } 9. Nc3 {324} Rc8 {149} 10. Be3 {715} b5 {850} 11. Qd3 {168} b4 {44} 12. Nb1 { 65} c4 {36} 13. Qc2 {5} Be7 {334} 14. a3 {265} b3 {154} 15. Qc1 {49} Nb6 {30} 16. Nc3 {25} Nfd5 {156} 17. Bd2 {142} O-O {41} 18. Ne5 {801} Nxc3 {57} 19. Bxc3 {4} Bxg2 {44} 20. Kxg2 {2} Na4 {42} 21. Re1 {512} f5 {50} 22. f3 {231} Bg5 {192 } 23. e3 {20} Bf6 {37} 24. e4 {325} Bxe5 {699} 25. dxe5 {3} fxe4 {28} 26. Rxe4 {75} Qd3 {39} 27. Re3 {28} Qd5 {245} 28. Qe1 {126} Rfd8 {16} 29. Rc1 {153} Qb5 {55} 30. Rd1 {1291} Rd3 {597} 31. Rexd3 {6} cxd3 {9} 32. Bd4 {2} Qc4 {25} 33. Be3 {807} Nxb2 {15} 34. Rc1 {3} d2 {11} 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A06"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2813"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "73"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. Nf3 {0} d5 {0} 2. g3 {0} Bg4 {5} 3. Bg2 {0} Nd7 {6} 4. c4 {5} e6 {15} 5. O-O {58} Ngf6 {43} 6. d3 {435} dxc4 {284} 7. dxc4 {7} Be7 {26} 8. Nc3 {369} O-O 9. Nh4 {172} c6 {343} 10. h3 {19} Bh5 {4} 11. g4 {50} Ne8 {142} 12. Nf3 {317} Bg6 {7} 13. Bf4 {33} f6 {1384} 14. Nd4 {589} Nc5 {226} 15. Be3 {354} a5 16. Nb3 { 872} Nd7 {550} 17. Na4 {30} Qc7 {990} 18. Nbc5 {362} Nxc5 {78} 19. Nxc5 {84} Bf7 {186} 20. Qd7 {614} Bxc5 {201} 21. Qxc7 {9} Nxc7 {3} 22. Bxc5 {6} Rfc8 {42} 23. f4 {149} e5 {110} 24. fxe5 {214} fxe5 {10} 25. b3 {8} Ne6 {34} 26. Be3 {10} Re8 {615} 27. Rad1 {167} Re7 {169} 28. a3 {512} h6 {265} 29. Rd6 {529} Rae8 { 144} 30. Be4 {121} Nf4 {339} 31. Bxf4 {28} exf4 {5} 32. Bd3 {45} g5 {295} 33. Rxh6 {6} Kg7 {20} 34. Rh7+ {396} Kg8 {8} 35. Rh6 {5} Kg7 {3} 36. Rh7+ {53} Kg8 {4} 37. Rh6 {3} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E04"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2868"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {0} d5 {44} 4. g3 {7} dxc4 {45} 5. Bg2 {7} Bb4+ {27} 6. Bd2 {9} a5 {9} 7. Qc2 {59} Bxd2+ {155} 8. Qxd2 {10} c6 {42 } 9. a4 {7} Ne4 {11} 10. Qc2 {803} Nd6 {23} 11. Nbd2 {334} Na6 {403} 12. Nxc4 { 167} Nb4 {6} 13. Nxd6+ {343} Qxd6 {6} 14. Qd2 {87} O-O {275} 15. O-O {5} Rd8 { 66} 16. Rfd1 {391} b6 {49} 17. Qc3 {301} Ba6 {112} 18. Rd2 {18} Rac8 {221} 19. Rad1 {40} Qe7 {552} 20. h4 {347} c5 {868} 21. dxc5 {194} Rd5 {347} 22. Rxd5 { 529} Nxd5 {50} 23. Qe5 {15} Qxc5 {1033} 24. Bh3 {865} Re8 {973} 25. Nd4 {370} Kf8 {1138} 26. Bf1 {167} Rc8 {171} 27. Nb5 {715} Bxb5 {36} 28. axb5 {6} Nf6 {83 } 29. Qd6+ {78} Ke8 {10} 30. Qd3 {262} Qd5 {37} 31. Qxd5 {105} exd5 {9} 32. e4 {462} Rc2 {94} 33. e5 {14} Ne4 {29} 34. Rxd5 {38} Rxb2 {4} 35. Rd4 {165} Rb4 { 63} 36. Rd1 {66} a4 {13} 37. Bg2 {17} Nc3 {44} 38. Bc6+ {12} Ke7 {2} 39. Rd7+ { 75} Ke6 {5} 40. Ra7 {4} Kxe5 {13} 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.15"] [Round "7"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B94"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} d6 {0} 3. d4 {0} cxd4 {0} 4. Nxd4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5. Nc3 {0} a6 {0} 6. Bg5 {6} Nbd7 {5} 7. Qe2 {23} g6 {303} 8. O-O-O {165} Bg7 {23} 9. f4 {540} Qa5 {485} 10. g3 {1182} h6 {357} 11. Bxf6 {397} Nxf6 {25} 12. Bg2 { 386} Bg4 {469} 13. Bf3 {14} Bxf3 {4} 14. Qxf3 {67} O-O {200} 15. Rhe1 {24} Nd7 {576} 16. Nb3 {237} Qc7 {77} 17. Nd5 {24} Qd8 {4} 18. h4 {595} Rc8 {172} 19. h5 {421} e6 {535} 20. Nc3 {20} Bxc3 {138} 21. bxc3 {8} Qf6 {1} 22. hxg6 {203} fxg6 {338} 23. Rxd6 {310} Ne5 {1191} 24. Qh1 {108} Nc4 {7} 25. e5 {8} Qf7 {1} 26. Rd4 {229} h5 {23} 27. Qe4 {87} b5 {173} 28. Red1 {150} Rc7 {728} 29. Nc5 {26} Rxc5 {167} 30. Rd7 {21} Rc7 {2} 31. Rxf7 {28} Kxf7 {2} 32. g4 {280} hxg4 {48} 33. Rh1 {153} Kg7 {95} 34. Qg2 {16} Rh8 {48} 35. Rxh8 {9} Kxh8 {2} 36. Qxg4 {12 } Rh7 {12} 37. Qd1 {53} Rf7 {10} 38. Qd4 {135} Kg7 {124} 39. Kd1 {44} g5 {83} 40. fxg5 {179} Kg6 {98} 41. Qh4 {3009} Nxe5 {3043} 42. Qh3 {0} Kxg5 {93} 43. Qxe6 {0} Rf5 {0} 44. Qxa6 {0} Nc4 {0} 45. Ke2 {20} Re5+ {0} 46. Kf2 {0} Ne3 {0} 47. Qa7 {0} Ng4+ {0} 48. Kf3 {0} Rf5+ {0} 49. Ke2 {0} Re5+ {0} 50. Kd2 {0} Rd5+ {0} 51. Kc1 {0} Kf4 {0} 52. Qf7+ {0} Ke4 {0} 53. Qh7+ {0} Kf4 {0} 54. Qh4 {0} Re5 {0} 55. Kb2 {0} Kf3 {0} 56. c4 {0} Ne3 {0} 57. Qf6+ {0} Ke4 {0} 58. Qc6+ {0 } Kd4 {0} 59. Qd6+ {0} 1-0

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Pictures by the official site

Standings after seven rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date	Round	English	German
May 16	Free
May 17	Round 8	Daniel King	Oliver Reeh
May 18	Round 9	Maurice Ashley	Klaus Bischoff

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao	½-½	Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov	0-1	Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov		Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler		Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian		Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao		Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov		Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin		Veselin Topalov

WGP Geneva: Khotenashvili leads alone

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:16:05 GMT

Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva

Round ten report

Georgian IM (and soon GM to be) Bela Khotenashvili confidently won her game against Katerina Lagno and is now half a point above Anna Muzychuk, who made a draw against Viktorija Cmilyte. Tatiana Kosintseva drew against Anna Ushenina and remains on the third place before the last round. Nana Dzagnidze defeated Ju Wenjun and shares the fourth place with Anna Ushenina, one point behind of Tatiana Kosintseva. Olga Girya and Tuvshintugs Batchimeg made a relatively quick draw while Alexandra Kosteniuk and Hou Yifan played for six hours to finish their game in a draw too.

Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585

Nana Dzagnidze (above) didn’t expect her opponent to choose the Dutch Defence and had prepared mainly for the Kings Indian. However, Ju Wenjun, who won with the Dutch against Anna Ushenina a few rounds ago, chose to play this opening again and got quite a comfortable position with black.

It was not the type of position which Nana enjoys playing, but when Ju Wenjun (above) played 21...b5 and let White’s pieces have more space for maneuvers, the Georgian player found good counterplay and later on managed to transfer the game into a winning endgame with opposite color bishops.

The longest and most complicated game of the round was between two former world champions. After the opening Alexandra Kosteniuk (above right) could not find the right plan and “was choosing strange moves”, as she pointed out during the press conference. She lost a pawn but was hoping to get some counter chances due to the pair of bishops. Chinese GM Hou Yifan missed some opportunities to get huge advantage and later on the players ended up in a very complicated endgame with unbalanced material (two bishops, knight and four pawns against rook, bishop and six pawns). After 95 moves the signed a peace agreement.

Analysis by Adrian Mikhalchishin

The famous chess trainer, who coached a number of participants of the Geneva Grand Prix from their pre-teen years, provides live commentary during the games.

[Event "Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix"] [Site "Geneva"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Khotenashvili, Bela"] [Black "Lagno, Kateryna"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E90"] [Annotator "MIKHALCHISHIN"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:20:29"] [BlackClock "0:30:44"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 {Another successfull test of the Makogonov Variation by Bela Khotenashvili in this tournament.} Na6 $6 {This variation is very dubious, as other moves are more serious.} 7. Bg5 c6 8. Be2 ({Generally speaking the logical move here is} 8. Nd2) 8... e5 9. d5 h6 10. Be3 Nh5 11. dxc6 {Very interesting change of the central structure. The other options don't bring White any real advantage:} ({Maybe just} 11. Nh2 Nf4 12. Bf1 cxd5 13. cxd5 Bd7 14. Qd2 f5 15. g3 g5 16. h4 b5 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. f3 Nh5 19. Bxg5 Qb6 20. Be3 Qa5 21. Bh3 {promise something, Timofeev,A (2659) -Kokarev,D (2618)/Tomsk 2012}) 11... bxc6 12. Qd2 Nf4 13. O-O ({A bit dangerous, but castling on the other side was possible} 13. O-O-O $6) 13... Nxe2+ 14. Nxe2 Be6 ({The pawn sacrifice} 14... g5 15. Rad1 d5 16. cxd5 cxd5 17. exd5 f5 18. d6 Be6 {would promise some practical chances.}) 15. Bxh6 Bxc4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Rfd1 Qc8 $2 {After a long thought Kateryna makes a big mistake.} ({Playable, but slightly worse was} 17... Qf6 18. Ng3 Rfd8 19. Rac1 Bb5 20. b3 Nc5) 18. Ng3 {Now Qg5 threatens to conduct a terrific attack, and Black is forced to sacrifice a pawn.} Be6 ({Easily refuted was} 18... f6 19. Qc3 d5 20. Nxe5 fxe5 21. Qxe5+ Kh7 22. b3) 19. Qxd6 f6 20. Rac1 c5 21. Nxe5 $1 ({ Khotenashvili is very active player and she does not like the slow realization of extra pawn.} 21. b3) 21... fxe5 22. Qxe5+ Kh7 ({Or} 22... Rf6 23. Qg5 Rf7 24. Nh5+ Kh7 25. Nf4 Rxf4 26. Qxf4 {winning easily.}) 23. Rd6 Re8 24. Nh5 $1 { The simplest and most direct continuation of the attack.} gxh5 25. Qxh5+ Kg7 26. Rc3 Rg8 27. Rg3+ ({A much faster win was the unexpected} 27. Rf3) 27... Kf8 28. Rxg8+ Bxg8 29. Rf6+ $6 ({Simpler was} 29. Qh8 Ke7 30. Qf6+ Ke8 31. Qe5+ Kf8 32. Rf6+ Bf7 33. Rh6 Bg8 34. Qf6+ Ke8 35. Qg7 Bf7 36. Qe5+ Kf8 37. Rh8+ Bg8 38. Qf6+) 29... Ke7 30. Qg5 Be6 31. f4 Nc7 {Finally Black was able to return the knight into play - with White's help. But White retains a lot of attacking potential still.} 32. f5 Bf7 33. Re6+ Kf8 34. Rh6 ({An incredibly nice win was } 34. Qe7+ Kg8 35. Rg6+ Bxg6 36. fxg6 Qe6 37. Qh7+ Kf8 38. g7+) 34... Bg8 35. Rf6+ Bf7 36. Rh6 Bg8 37. Qf6+ Ke8 38. Qg7 Qd8 39. Qxg8+ Kd7 40. Qg4 Kc8 41. e5 Qd5 42. Qf4 Kb7 ({The endgame is simply lost} 42... Qd4+ 43. Qxd4 cxd4 44. Rh8+ Kd7 45. Rxa8 Nxa8 46. Kf1 Nb6 47. Ke2 Nc4 48. e6+ Kd6 49. Kd3 Kd5 50. e7 Nd6 51. h4 Ke5 52. g4 Kf6 53. Kxd4 Kxe7 54. Kd5) 43. Rd6 $1 {The decisive winning move.} Qxa2 44. Qe4+ Kc8 45. e6 1-0

Down to 50%: one of the favourites Kateryna Lahno

A new grandmaster: Bela Khotenashvili, with a 2703 performance in Geneva

Full summaries of other games here

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Current standings

Information and photos supplied by FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Friday, May 3rd 2013 at 14:00
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
Round 2 on Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	½-½
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	1-0
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	1-0	2522
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	WGM	½-½	2298
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	½-½
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	0-1
Round 3 on Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
Round 4 on Monday, May 6th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
Round 6 on Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
Round 7 on Friday, May 10th 2013 at 14:00
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	0-1	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Yifan Hou	2617		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545

Norway 2013 Rd6: Carlsen closes on Karjakin

Tue, 14 May 2013 21:37:58 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

Round six

Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Peter Svidler

The spectators enjoy a very intimate view of the elite event

If the sixth round could be summed up in a word, it would be ‘intense’, but to try and define it with one word, would be a slight of no small proportions to the players who gave it their all. They took risks, poured their inspiration and perspiration on the board, and essentially held nothing back. The poor commentators usually have only a game or two to center their focus on, giving brief highlights of the others as they progress, had no such luck today. GM Daniel King trying to make sense of so many sharp positions quailed jokingly “My brain is hurting.”

The first game to end was not a draw as one might expect, but an explosive Gruenfeld between Levon Aronian and Jon Hammer in which the Norwegian entered a line considered dubious, and paid the price for his temerity. Usually the price in such situations is significant suffering, but the Armenian took it on himself to get an early rest as he brought his d-pawn to the seventh rank by move 23 forcing resignation the move after.

A representative of the sponsor Lyse makes the first move

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Hammer, Jon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "47"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Nc6 { Theory considers this move a mistake.} ({Correct was} 13... Bxf3 14. Bxf3 Bxd4 {and the position is about equal.}) 14. d5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 {Now we have a fight between central pawn against a distant pawn. Here the central pawn is much more advanced and we can affirm that White is much better.} a5 17. d6 a4 18. e5 {White has to advance his central pawns because the a-pawn supported by the bishop on g7 is too strong.} Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Qb2 {Probably the decisive mistake.} ({Black should have played} 19... a3 20. Bc3 Qc4 21. Qd4 $14 {and White is clearly better but the win is far from clear. A possible continuation could be} Qxd4 22. Bxd4 a2 23. Ra1 Rfb8 24. Kg2) 20. Be3 $1 {Very strong! Hammer probably missed this move in his analyses.} a3 ({The point is that Black can not capture the e-pawn.} 20... Bxe5 21. Qd5 Bg7 22. Rxf7 Rxf7 23. Qxa8+ Bf8 24. Rd1 {with an easy win because the advance of the d-pawn is supported and the a-pawn is under control.}) 21. Qd5 {Now it's over.} Rae8 ( 21... Rab8 {was suggested by Levon in the post-mortem analysis as a better defense but White still wins after} 22. e6 fxe6 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Ra7 {and again the black pawn is under control. A possible continution could be} Qf6 25. Qd5 Qxf3 26. Qxf3 Rxf3 27. d7 Kg8 28. Rd1 Bf6 29. Rxa3) 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. d7 Rd8 24. Bg5 1-0

Veselin Topalov and Wang Hao played the only game that did not require warnings to people with heart conditions and played a main line Queen’s Gambit Accepted that led to nothing for either side. This ended in a draw after they had exhausted their options.

The soft-spoken Veselin Topalov and Wang Hao

Although Hikaru Nakamura and Peter Svidler played a draw that lasted one move less than the aforementioned game, it was an entirely different story. The American sprang the very rare grandmaster guest: the Ponziani, which although he has played before in 2007, and was even essayed by Carlsen this year at Wijk, could not have been the prime focus of Svidler’s preparation.

Hikaru Nakamura shows his support of his football team

As it turned out, the Russian was quite familiar with it, but was alarmed at the way his opponent was blitzing out his moves and kept trying to find a way to break away from theory without actually doing anything suicidal. His choice was 9…Bg4, which looked decidedly odd, but the result was an extremely sharp game that had ‘anything can happen’ written all over it. With both kings highly exposed, it was no shock to see it end in a forced repetition after a sacrifice.

The game by Viswanathan Anand and Sergey Karjakin was one of both beauty and tragedy. After his loss yesterday, a big question mark was how the Russian would respond to the setback. In a sense this seemed to presume he was calling the shots, and ignored his illustrious opponent, but the world champion quickly stamped his authority and who was who. Karjakin played the Ruy Lopez Berlin, usually synonymous of exchanged queens and a lot of maneuvering, but Anand was having none of it, and 4.d3 said the queens were invited to stay at the party.

It was an inspired game by Vishy Anand, who came 'oh so close' to
drubbing Sergey Karjakin

The position was nevertheless quite controlled for the first twenty moves, and Vishy was the first to show his hand with a none-too-subtle 22.g4 followed by 23.Rg1, and the Russian responded well with Kf7 and g5 taking his king out of the line of fire, trying to blockade the belligerent intentions of the Indian. It was an inspired performance by Anand as he worked the position with great verve, and seemed headed towards a small masterpiece. Many of the threatened lines, as well as those supporting the moves played, were of great beauty, but a tragic oversight with 48.Rh1 allowed the one tempo Sergey needed to get his balance and after 48…Qb5 threatening …Qb3, the win was no more. A bittersweet moment for Anand who has been showing his brilliance but was unable to close the deal, and a huge relief for Karjakin who had been staring at a second defeat in a row, which he might not have recovered from.

Magnus Carlsen played a game against Teimour Radjabov that can easily be recognized as Classic Carlsen. He played an opening, a Tarrasch, and middlegame that garnered him little to nothing, and entered an endgame where he had a microscopic pull to work with and from there began to brew his potion. It took him no fewer than 40 moves to squeeze blood from a stone, but in the end he moved forward within just a half-point behind Sergey Karjakin and three rounds to go.

Magnus Carlsen has nearly caught up with Sergey Karjakin

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Carlsen vs Radjabov

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[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D85"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2608"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Rxb7 Nc6 14. d5 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nd4 16. Rxe7 a5 17. d6 a4 18. e5 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Qb2 20. Be3 a3 21. Qd5 Rae8 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. d7 Rd8 24. Bg5 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c5 5. e3 dxc4 6. Bxc4 a6 7. O-O b5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. dxc5 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Bxc5 11. Nd2 Nbd7 12. Nb3 Bb4 13. Bd2 O-O 14. a4 bxa4 15. Nxa4 a5 16. Bxb4 axb4 17. Nac5 Bd5 18. f3 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Rc8 20. Rc1 Bxb3 21. Nxb3 Rxc1+ 22. Nxc1 Nc5 23. Kf2 Nd5 24. e4 Nb6 25. Ke3 e5 26. b3 Kf8 27. Bd1 Ke7 28. Na2 Na6 29. Be2 Nc5 30. Bd1 Na6 31. Be2 Nc5 32. Bd1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C44"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Nf6 5. Nxe5 Bd6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. d3 O-O 8. Be2 Re8 9. Nd2 Bg4 10. Qd1 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 dxe4 12. dxe4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 Qh4 14. g4 f5 15. Be3 Rxe4 16. gxf5 Qh3 17. f6 Qe6 18. fxg7 Rb8 19. b3 a5 20. Rd1 a4 21. Qf3 axb3 22. axb3 Re8 23. Rd4 Rxd4 24. cxd4 Qxb3 25. Qxc6 Rxe3+ 26. fxe3 Qxe3+ 27. Kf1 Qd3+ 28. Kf2 Qd2+ 29. Kf1 Qd3+ 30. Kf2 Qd2+ 31. Kf1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "114"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2865"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Nc4 Nd7 8. Bd2 Re8 9. a4 f6 10. O-O Nf8 11. Be3 Ne6 12. Bxc5 Nxc5 13. Ne3 Ne6 14. Nh4 a5 15. b3 Qd4 16. Nhf5 Qc5 17. Qd2 Nd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qe2 Be6 20. Kh1 Rad8 21. Qe1 b6 22. g4 Kf7 23. Rg1 g5 24. h4 Rg8 25. Qe2 Ke7 26. Raf1 h6 27. Rg2 b5 28. Rh2 Rg7 29. hxg5 hxg5 30. Rb1 bxa4 31. bxa4 Qxa4 32. Qe1 Ra8 33. Qc3 Kd7 34. Nc4 c5 35. Rh6 Rf7 36. Ne3 Qc6 37. Qa3 a4 38. c4 Qd6 39. Kg2 Qf8 40. Rbh1 Qd6 41. Rh8 Rff8 42. R8h7+ Kc8 43. Nd5 Bxd5 44. cxd5 Rd8 45. Rc1 Rd7 46. Rh3 Ra5 47. Rc4 Qa6 48. Rh1 Qb5 49. Qc3 a3 50. Ra1 a2 51. Qd2 Rh7 52. Rcc1 Rh8 53. f3 Kd7 54. Rxa2 Rxa2 55. Qxa2 Qxd3 56. Rxc5 Qd1 57. Rxc7+ Kxc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "6"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A35"] [WhiteElo "2868"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2960"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bb5 Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. b3 Bg4 11. Bb2 a6 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Rc1 Ba7 14. Ne2 Qd6 15. Be5 Qe7 16. Ned4 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Rfc8 18. Qd3 a5 19. Bxf6 Qxf6 20. Rc2 Rd8 21. Rfc1 c5 22. e4 Qg6 23. Re1 dxe4 24. Qxe4 Qxe4 25. Rxe4 Rd1+ 26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27. Nxe1 Rd8 28. Kf1 a4 29. bxa4 Rd4 30. a5 Ra4 31. Rd2 Kf8 32. Nd3 f6 33. Nb2 Rxa5 34. Nc4 Ra4 35. Rc2 Ke7 36. Ke2 Ke6 37. Kd3 Kd5 38. a3 h5 39. h3 h4 40. Rc1 g6 41. Rc2 g5 42. Rc1 Ra6 43. Re1 Bb8 44. Re7 Bf4 45. Kc3 f5 46. Kb3 g4 47. a4 gxh3 48. gxh3 Rg6 49. a5 Rg1 50. a6 Rb1+ 51. Kc3 Rc1+ 52. Kd3 Rd1+ 53. Ke2 Ra1 54. Nb6+ Kd6 55. Rg7 Kc6 56. Rg6+ Kb5 57. Nd5 Be5 58. Rb6+ Kc4 59. Ne3+ Kc3 60. f4 Bd4 61. Nxf5 c4 62. Rc6 Rh1 63. Nd6 Rh2+ 64. Kf3 Kd3 65. Rxc4 Rxh3+ 66. Kg4 Rh1 67. Ra4 Bf2 68. Ra3+ 1-0

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Pictures by the official site

Standings after six rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date	Round	English	German
May 15	Round 7	Daniel King	Klaus Bischoff
May 16	Free
May 17	Round 8	Daniel King	Oliver Reeh
May 18	Round 9	Maurice Ashley	Klaus Bischoff

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao		Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler		Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov		Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin		Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov		Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler		Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian		Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao		Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov		Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin		Veselin Topalov

US Ch: Kamsky beats Ramirez in playoff

Tue, 14 May 2013 18:38:49 GMT

US Championships: Kamsky beats Ramirez in playoff

Report from Saint Louis by FM Mike Klein

In all three hours of competition, and for more than 150 moves, Gata Kamsky (above) was the aggressor. Despite the constant pressure, he could not break through the stalwart and creative endgame defense of Ramirez until the waning moments. “It feels a bit awkward,” Kamsky said. “I consider us equals. Someone just got luckier than the other.”

The two went into a playoff by virtue of being tied after nine rounds of classical chess. Both players had 6.5/9; they drew their face-to-face battle in round eight. Kamksy was undefeated with four wins and five draws, while Alejandro Ramirez (above) had a loss but also one more win, thus necessitating Monday’s action.

Top final standings (after nine rounds)

Rnk	Name	Pts	Rtng	TPR	W-We	SB
1	GM Kamsky, Gata	6.5	2741	2733	+0.01	34.75
2	GM Ramirez, Alejandro	6.5	2551	2737	+2.25	29.75
3	GM Onischuk, Alexander	6.0	2666	2670	+0.06	29.75
4	GM Gareev, Timur	6.0	2674	2690	+0.19	28.0
5	GM Holt, Conrad	5.5	2513	2679	+2.02	27.75
6	GM Christiansen, Larry M	5.0	2579	2623	+0.52	21.5
7	GM Shabalov, Alexander	5.0	2544	2626	+0.98	20.0
8	GM Robson, Ray	5.0	2620	2613	-0.10	19.75
9	IM Troff, Kayden W	5.0	2421	2614	+2.21	19.25
10	GM Benjamin, Joel	5.0	2534	2644	+1.30	24.0
11	GM Akobian, Varuzhan	5.0	2616	2554	-0.75	19.75

The playoff

Games one and two were played at a time control of 25 minutes per player with a five second increment per move. Ramirez seemed determined not to get behind on the clock, but an early misstep allowed Kamsky to embed a knight on d5. Shortly after, Black’s pawns were crippled, but Ramirez found all the necessary countermeasures to prevent any white pawn from reaching paydirt. Of the many players who were spectating, GM Robert Hess said Kamsky did not need to be so quick to exchange his best piece.

Live video coverage of the games, with Jennifer Shahade and Yasser Seirawan commenting

Maurice Ashley was providing computer and human brain assisted evaluations

Things getting really tense – Kamsky attacking, Ramirez defending precisely

[Event "ch-USA Playoff 2013"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "1"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2551"] [PlyCount "126"] [EventDate "2013.05.13"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Qc7 8. Na3 d6 9. b3 a6 10. Bb2 Nc6 11. Qd2 Bd7 12. Rac1 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Bc6 14. Nb5 Qd7 15. Nc3 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 b5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nd5 Rac8 19. cxb5 Qxb5 20. Nxf6+ exf6 21. e3 Rc6 22. Rxc6 Qxc6+ 23. Kg1 Rc8 24. Rd1 Qc2 25. Qxc2 Rxc2 26. a4 Rc6 27. Rd4 Kf8 28. Rb4 Ke7 29. Rb7+ Ke6 30. a5 Rc2 31. g4 h5 32. gxh5 gxh5 33. Kg2 f5 34. Rb6 Rb2 35. Kf3 Ke5 36. Rxa6 Rxb3 37. Ra8 Ra3 38. a6 f4 39. a7 Kf5 40. Ke2 fxe3 41. fxe3 h4 42. h3 Ra4 43. Kd3 Kf6 44. Kc3 Ke7 45. Kb3 Ra1 46. Kc4 Ra5 47. Kb4 Ra1 48. Kb5 Rb1+ 49. Kc6 Rc1+ 50. Kd5 Rc5+ 51. Ke4 Ra5 52. Kf4 Kf6 53. Kg4 Ra4+ 54. Kh5 Kf5 55. e4+ Kf6 56. Kxh4 d5 57. Kg3 dxe4 58. Kf4 Kg7 59. h4 Kh7 60. h5 Kg7 61. h6+ Kh7 62. Ke3 f5 63. Kf4 Ra6 1/2-1/2

Draw agreed in game one

After a short break, they switched colors and resumed the rapid play. This time Kamsky broke through on the queenside, and probed Ramirez’s position with his rook. The minor pieces traded and another rook-and-pawn ending was reached, with Kamsky having all the chances.

One again Ramirez was up to the task, using a stalemate tactic to extend the tiebreak

[Event "ch-USA Playoff 2013"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "2"] [White "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Black "Kamsky, Gata"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "2551"] [BlackElo "2741"] [PlyCount "127"] [EventDate "2013.05.13"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. h3 Qd7 11. Nc3 Na5 12. Ba2 b4 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 c6 15. Ba2 c5 16. c3 Bc6 17. Bd5 bxc3 18. bxc3 Bxd5 19. exd5 Rab8 20. c4 Nb3 21. Rb1 Nxc1 22. Qxc1 Qxa4 23. Ra1 Qb3 24. Ra3 Qb7 25. Qa1 f5 26. Rxa6 Ra8 27. Ra2 Rxa2 28. Qxa2 Ra8 29. Rb1 Rxa2 30. Rxb7 Bf6 31. Rb8+ Kf7 32. Rb7+ Ke8 33. Rb1 Kd7 34. Rd1 h5 35. g4 hxg4 36. hxg4 e4 37. dxe4 fxg4 38. e5 gxf3 39. exf6 gxf6 40. Rc1 f5 41. Rc3 Ke7 42. Re3+ Kf6 43. Re6+ Kg5 44. Rxd6 Rc2 45. Rc6 Kf4 46. Rh6 Kg5 47. Rh8 Rxc4 48. d6 Rd4 49. Rc8 Rxd6 50. Rxc5 Kg4 51. Rc4+ Kh3 52. Rc1 Rg6+ 53. Kh1 Rg2 54. Rc2 Rg7 55. Rc3 Kg4 56. Rc4+ f4 57. Rc8 Kf5 58. Rc3 Ke4 59. Rc4+ Kd3 60. Rxf4 Ke2 61. Ra4 Kxf2 62. Ra2+ Kg3 63. Kg1 Rb7 64. Rg2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "ch-USA Playoff 2013"] [Site "Saint Louis USA"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "3"] [White "Kamsky, Gata"] [Black "Ramirez, Alejandro"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A46"] [WhiteElo "2741"] [BlackElo "2551"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2013.05.13"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. g3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Qc7 8. Na3 d6 9. Ndb5 Qd8 10. Bg5 Nc6 11. Qd2 a6 12. Nc3 Bf5 13. e4 Be6 14. Nd5 Nd7 15. Rac1 Rc8 16. b3 Re8 17. h3 Nde5 18. Kh1 Rb8 19. Nc2 Qd7 20. Nb6 Qd8 21. Be3 Nd7 22. Nd5 Nc5 23. f4 b5 24. cxb5 axb5 25. f5 Bxd5 26. exd5 Ne5 27. Nb4 Qa5 28. Bxc5 dxc5 29. Rxc5 Rbc8 30. Rxc8 Rxc8 31. fxg6 hxg6 32. Qf4 Qc7 33. a4 bxa4 34. bxa4 f5 35. Nc6 Nxc6 36. Qxc7 Rxc7 37. dxc6 e5 38. Bd5+ Kf8 39. g4 Ke7 40. gxf5 gxf5 41. Rxf5 Kd6 42. Bf3 Ra7 43. Rg5 e4 44. Bxe4 Be5 45. Rg6+ Kc5 46. Bf3 Kb6 47. Rg5 Ra5 48. h4 Kc7 49. h5 Kd6 50. h6 Rxa4 51. Rxe5 Kxe5 52. c7 1-0

Ramirez said the experience of playing worse positions was “torture”, then he was reminded that he still pockets $20,000. “I’ve never won that much in chess, ever,” he said.

After the tense playoff, Kamsky (above being interviewed by Maurice Ashley after the playoff) seemed more relieved than elated. He flew in from a tournament in Switzerland just days before the championship, and he has less than one week until he competes against the world’s best in Greece. “I just want to get some sleep,” he said.

All photos by Tony Rich, Saint Louis Chess Club

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WGP Geneva: Muzychuk, Khotenashvili win and lead

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:20:50 GMT

Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva

Round nine report

Both leaders, Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia) and Bela Khotenashvili (Georgia), won their games in this round and continue to share the first place. The Georgian player defeated Olga Girya to complete her final GM norm. Tatiana Kosintseva (Russia) outplayed Katerina Lahno, while the Chinese derby Hou Yifan-Ju Wenjun finished in a draw, as did the games Ushenina-Dzagnidze and Cmilyte-Kosteniuk.

Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617

Bela Khotenashvili knew that draw in the game would give her the last GM norm and tried to play safely. As Black she didn’t face any problem in the opening and the position was about equal after 20 moves. Then her opponent Olga Girya played inaccurately and lost a pawn, after which White was suffering. Bela missed few chances to win, and after 74 moves the endgame knight against rook appeared on the board. After five and a half hours of play both opponents were really tired and didn’t play precisely. Olga Girya made a mistake on the 108th move and lost the game.

Tatiana Kosintseva beat Kateryna Lahno with black to move to third place

Second seed GM Anna Muzychuk in a fighting mood against...

... bottom seed Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, rated almost 300 points below

Analysis by Adrian Mikhalchishin

The famous chess trainer, who coached a number of participants of the Geneva Grand Prix from their pre-teen years, provides live commentary during the games.

[Event "Neva Foundation GP"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.05.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Muzychuk, A."] [Black "Batchimeg, Tugvinsug"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C91"] [Annotator "MIKHALCHISHIN"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2013.05.03"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 {Anna's strength is that she can chose different systems and does not repeat the Fischer Spanish second time, despite her clear success against Kosintseva.} Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. d4 Bg4 10. Be3 {Another Fischer pet line, in which he won great game against Viktor Korchnoi in 1961 in Stockholm.} exd4 11. cxd4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. h3 (13. Nc3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Na5 15. Bc2 Nc4 16. Qd3 g6 17. Bh6) 13... Bh5 14. Nbd2 $5 {A very rare move, prepared by Anna. Practically all modern players use the direct} (14. Nc3 {which does not promise real advantage.}) 14... Na5 ( 14... Nxd2 15. Bxd2 ({Anna planned here to sacrifice an exchange:} 15. Qxd2 Bb4 16. Qc2 Bxe1 17. Qxc6 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Ba5 19. Bxd5 Rb8 20. Be4 {with huge compensation.}) 15... Nxd4 16. g4 Nxb3 17. Qxb3 Bg6 18. Ba5 $1 Qd7 19. Rad1 { White has some, probably unsufficient, compensation for the pawn: Jensen,A (2245)-Kovacs,L (2340)/Copenhagen 1982}) 15. Bc2 Nxd2 16. Bxd2 Nc4 17. g4 ({ Some GMs prefer to keep the bishop pair} 17. Bc1 Qd7 18. b3 Nb6 19. Qe2 (19. Bd2 Qe6 20. Rc1 $16) 19... Rae8 20. Bd2 f5 21. a3 Qe6 22. Qd3 {with clear advantage in Zaitsev,I (2390)-Gola,M (2375)/Moscow 1989.}) 17... Bg6 18. b3 ({ Here a retreat was possible too} 18. Bc1 $5) 18... Nxd2 ({White would keep a slight advantage, because of c-file problems after} 18... Bxc2 19. Qxc2 Nxd2 20. Qxd2 Qd7 21. Rac1 h5 22. Qf4 Rac8 23. Qf5) 19. Qxd2 c5 {I dont believe that Black can survive without this move. The great Capablanca taught us that pressure on c-file can be decisive.} 20. dxc5 Bxc5 21. Bf5 {Typical setup.} ({ White could play Capablanca's plan here too} 21. Rac1 Qb6 22. Bxg6 hxg6 23. Rc2 Rad8 24. b4 Be7 25. Rec1) 21... a5 $6 ({It was necessary to play more dynamically:} 21... Bxf5 22. gxf5 Qd7 23. Qf4 Rac8 24. Rac1 d4) 22. Re2 d4 23. Rd1 Qb6 24. Qf4 Rad8 25. Rd3 ({It was better to keep the possibility to double on the c-file.} 25. Qe4) 25... Rfe8 26. h4 {It is not clear wheather this is the best plan, as the central approach connected with the c-file was still possible.} (26. Rc2 a4 27. Qe4) 26... Qc7 27. Qe4 ({Anna refused to play on the queenside.} 27. Rc2) 27... Qe7 28. h5 ({A very strong way to attack would be} 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. Ng5 {threatening f2-f4.} f6 30. exf6 Qxe4 31. Nxe4) 28... Bxf5 29. gxf5 Kh8 30. Qg4 ({Not bad was} 30. Qc6 b4 31. h6) 30... Ba7 31. Nh4 $6 {Anna tries to attack her opponent's king at any price.} ({Much more unpleasant for Black was the central strategy} 31. e6) 31... Qc7 32. f4 ({ Still was better} 32. e6) 32... f6 33. Nf3 Bb8 34. Kh1 a4 35. Rg2 ({It was better to use the power of central passed pawn even now} 35. e6 axb3 36. axb3 Qc1+ 37. Kg2 Bxf4 38. Rxd4 Rxd4 39. Nxd4 Be5 40. Nf3 Bf4 41. Kh3) 35... axb3 36. axb3 Qb7 $6 ({Better was} 36... Rg8) 37. h6 $1 {Now White starts the final attack.} gxh6 ({Did not help} 37... Rg8 38. Rxd4 Rxd4 39. Nxd4 fxe5 40. Ne6 g6 41. Qg5) 38. Qh4 $1 Rf8 ({Or another defensive try} 38... Qf7 39. Qxh6 fxe5 40. Ng5 Qg7 41. Qh5 Re7 42. Ne6 {winning.}) 39. Qxh6 fxe5 ({Or once more} 39... Rf7 40. Nh4) 40. Nh4 $1 {This typical move now wins easily.} Rg8 41. Qf6+ 1-0

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Current standings

Free day simuls

On the free day GMs Alexandra Kosteniuk (above) and...

... Viktorija Cmilyte gave simultaneous exhibitions against youthful players

... an event that was enjoyed by one and all

Information and photos supplied by FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Friday, May 3rd 2013 at 14:00
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
Round 2 on Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	½-½
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	1-0
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	1-0	2522
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	WGM	½-½	2298
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	½-½
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	0-1
Round 3 on Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
Round 4 on Monday, May 6th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
Round 6 on Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
Round 7 on Friday, May 10th 2013 at 14:00
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	0-1	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491		GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545		WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517		GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505		GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298		WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522		GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Yifan Hou	2617		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545

Kramnik: Anand tense, scared of Carlsen

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:45:18 GMT

Of late, Vishy Anand has been tense and nervous: Kramnik

By Dhananjay Khadilkar – May 1, 2013

How does one beat Vishy Anand in a world championship match? Since 2007, he has fended off challenges from three different players – Vladimir Kramnik, Veselein Topalov and Boris Gelfand. All the three matches were really close yet Anand managed to emerge on top. But now he has a completely different opponent. At 22, Magnus Carlsen is almost half of Anand’s age, is currently the World No 1 and has achieved the highest Elo rating for any player in the history of the sport.

Kramnik, who himself was a world champion for seven years and had achieved the distinction of beating Garry Kasparov (the only instance that Kasparov had been beaten in a World Championship match), believes that age and motivation are the biggest advantages for Carlsen against Anand.

Kramnik will be backing Anand to win

“Chess is not like football or other sports, but still, when you are much older than your opponent, it works against you. (At 37) I consider myself to be quite old. Vishy is even older than me. So that makes it a bit difficult for him. Magnus has much more energy, more motivation as he hasn’t been a world champion yet. Those are his biggest advantages,” Kramnik told Firstpost at the Alekhine Memorial tournament in Paris. He also added that Magnus was probably the toughest opponent possible.

Kramnik said that in order to retain the title, Anand needs to be more relaxed during the match. “Vishy shouldn’t think about the outcome. He should just play and enjoy and try to show his best. If he is relaxed and doesn’t get too tense, he can win. However, lately, he is a little bit tense and nervous. He should try to be calmer and take it easy,” the Russian world No 3 remarked.

Kramnik predicted that the match would be really close. “A world championship match is always played by players who are very close. It cannot be otherwise. Magnus is very strong but Vishy is incredibly experienced in matches and he is a fantastic player. If he gets in best shape, he is capable of beating Magnus,” he added.

On how Carlsen can beat Anand, Kramnik, who had narrowly lost out to Carlsen at the Candidates Tournament, said that the best way was to deeply analyse the opponent’s recent games and build a strategy. “Quite a lot depends on preparation, not only related to chess but also psychological,” he said. When asked as to pick up his favourite in the match, Kramnik said that it’s too close to call. “I want to see a good match. If both prepare well, it is pretty equal. Generally speaking, I would like a player from my generation to do better. But this is nothing against Carlsen,” Kramnik said.

Source: Firstpost sport

Anand is scared of World No 1 Carlsen, says Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik, former world chess champion and one of the Candidates who was in race to challenge Viswanathan Anand for the world title, believes the Indian Grandmaster has a chance to beat Magnus Carlsen in the world championship match later this year if he stopped being scarred of the Norwegian challenger. “I believe that Anand definitely has his chances. It is absolutely realistic. The only problem that I think Anand is facing is that he – this is just my opinion – is somewhat intimidated by Carlsen. He is playing unconfidently against him – he's scared of him, I would say,” Kramnik said.

In an interview published recently, the Russian said Anand is afraid of Carlsen just like he used to be afraid of Garry Kasparov. “He was never seriously weaker than Kasparov, but just couldn’t play against him,” Kramnik said. “You know, age is taking its toll, so he (Anand) is playing a little worse than before, but he is still good enough. He loses very rarely, and it is extremely important for matches.” Told by the interviewer that Anand does not win too often these days, Kramnik said he does not have to to retain the world title. “One doesn’t have to win many games in a match. It is enough to win one game and to draw the rest. It is clear that he is now match oriented and not wasting energy on regular tournaments. Maybe he won’t be in his top form. His match against me (in 2008) was probably the pinnacle of his career. He was playing brilliantly back then. Even if he gets back to his normal 'good' form, he can still beat Carlsen, but only if he manages to solve his psychological problems. This is a must-do.”

Kramnik said Anand should not be intimidated by the world No 1. “He should relax and not be afraid of Magnus. One can face Carlsen and actually beat him. If Anand manages to prepare himself this way, then I think the chances will be equal. If not, then his chances will be very low. I would say that if he manages to hold the pressure of Magnus for at least six games (i.e., tie at 3-3), then Anand will become a favourite in my eyes.”

Source: Pune Mirror

Norway 2013 Rd5: Carlsen beats Karjakin

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:03:19 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

Round five

Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen

It is hard to imagine a more dire situation for someone still dreaming of an ever more elusive first, than trailing the leader by a full two pointswith a mere five rounds to go. This is the situation Magnus Carlsen was in, with Sergey Karjakin speeding away with a sumptuous 4.0/4 while he was only on 50%. The fifth round game between the two was crucial, since anything less than a win and he knew he would have to readjust his sights for second. His fans are legion as he started with difficult times and a genuine disadvantage he described as “suffering”.

With the luck of the champions, Magnus Carlsen came out on top against Karjakin

Sergey Karjakin had to be growing in increased excitement as the possibility of crowning his run with a win over the world number one became a real prospect, and it was precisely this that gave Carlsen his lifeline. He himself admitted in the press conference that had Sergey played with no ambitions and stuck to containing him he would not have been able to do anything. Magnus agreed the Russian was not wrong to feel his ambitions might be rewarded, but this willingness to fight gave him hope that he might get his chance as well. Whether due to excitement or just some mental lapse during his calculations, something went wrong in Karjakin’s play and a magnificent 33…Nxf4! had to have been a nasty shock. It all went downhill, and with such a show of fireworks, perhaps he will be hired for the New Year’s display.

Magnus Carlsen played 33...Nxf4 with the unspoken words, "You can't touch this."

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Karjakin-Carlsen:

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2868"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2835"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. a4 Bf8 14. Bd3 c6 15. Qc2 Rc8 (15... Qc7 {seems more natural.}) 16. axb5 axb5 17. b4 Qc7 18. Bb2 Ra8 19. Rad1 Nb6 20. c4 $1 {That is the correct way to attack this structure. White is already better.} bxc4 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 h6 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Bc3 {The pawn on c6 is weaker than b4 and Black has a bad bishop on b7.} Ba6 25. Bb3 c5 26. Qb2 c4 27. Ba4 Re6 28. Nxe5 Bb7 29. Bc2 {White is clearly better after} (29. Bb5 $1 {the point is that Black cannot retake the pawn.} Bxe4 30. Bxc4 Rxe5 31. Bxe5 Qxc4 32. Rd4 Qc2 (32... Qc6 33. b5 Qb7 34. Bxf6 {winning material.} Bxg2 35. Rg4) 33. Qxc2 Bxc2 34. b5 {The b-pawn will cost Black a piece.}) 29... Rae8 30. f4 Bd6 {now Black has counterplay and the position is about even.} 31. Kh2 {A very strange move considering the position of Black's queen and bishop.} (31. Re3) 31... Nh5 $1 32. g3 f6 33. Ng6 {Magnus said that Karjakin played this both quickly and with quite a bit of confidence, and added he was not really sure what Sergey saw, but clearly something had gone horribly wrong in his calculations.} Nxf4 $1 {Carlsen finds the best way and Karjakin is forced to play} 34. Rxd6 (34. gxf4 Bxf4+ {black has a winning attack.} 35. Kh1 (35. Nxf4 Qxf4+ 36. Kh1 Qg3 37. Re2 Rxe4) 35... Rxe4 36. Bxe4 Rxe4 37. Kg1 Bd2 {and the queen enters g3}) 34... Nxg6 35. Rxe6 Rxe6 36. Bd4 { Another mistake. White should bring his queen to defend the king.} (36. Bb1 h5 37. Qf2 {was correct and Black is only a little better.} h4 38. Re3) 36... f5 $1 {another good move to open his bishop.} 37. e5 Nxe5 $1 38. Bxe5 Qc6 39. Rg1 (39. Be4 fxe4 40. Re3 {was the only defense and Carlsen should win in the long run.}) 39... Qd5 {Now it's over. Black has attack and a passed distant pawn to disturb White's pieces.} 40. Bxf5 Rxe5 41. Bg4 h5 42. Bd1 ({Though it would not change anything in the result, Carlsen said he had hoped Karjakin might play} 42. Rd1 {when he would finish in beauty with} Qxd1 $3 43. Bxd1 Re1 { threatening mate with Rh1.} 44. g4 h4 {and White can only defend by giving back the queen with} 45. Qg2 Bxg2 46. Kxg2 Rxd1) 42... c3 43. Qf2 Rf5 44. Qe3 Qf7 45. g4 Re5 46. Qd4 Qc7 0-1

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Karjakin vs Carlsen

Although crucial to keep the interest of the top spot alive, it must be pointed out that Karjakin still leads with 4.0/5 and a full point ahead of Carlsen and Nakamura, both on 3.0/5. With only four rounds left, the Russian is still a significant favorite.

Magnus Carlsen analyzes his game against Sergey Karjakin

When told that several players, such as Nakamura, were rooting for a win by Carlsen so as to keep their chances alive as well, Magnus chuckled, “I am glad to be of service.”

Hikaru Nakamura also played a fine game against Veselin Topalov, and seemed to be steering for a very favorable endgame when he stumbled with 19.a3 and the equilibrium was restored. The American shares second with Carlsen at 3.0/5.

Hikaru Nakamura tried hard to break Veseiln Topalov, but to no avail

It is considered common knowledge that last minute cramming for an exam is the worst possible approach and to be avoided at all cost, yet it is a lesson Peter Svidler has apparently never fully digested as he admitted to doing much of his preparation right before the games of the day. Today it turned out to save him as he refuted his preparation after checking a gut feeling he had. The downside is that he had nothing strong to face Anand and the latter equalized quickly with great ease, and they drew. Aronian and Radjabov played a Slav Exchange, but very little took place and the draw was never in doubt.

The second surprise result, to the delight of the Norweigians, was Jon Hammer’s win over Wang Hao after a topsy-turvy game where the edge swung all over the place. The time control was decisive as the Chinese player committed a fatal oversight on move 40, after which Hammer never gave him a chance. This turn came about as Carlsen was analyzing his own win, and he generously commented that it was a pleasure to see both Norwegians win their games after they had both failed to win a game in the first four rounds. Hammer had sworn he was going to play his game in the tournament and planned to chalk up at least one win before the tournament’s end. His wish has been fulfilled.

Jon Hammer fulfilled his promise to not leave the tournament
with his sword unblooded

Replay all games

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C95"] [WhiteElo "2767"] [BlackElo "2868"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2835"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Nb8 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. a4 Bf8 14. Bd3 c6 15. Qc2 Rc8 16. axb5 axb5 17. b4 Qc7 18. Bb2 Ra8 19. Rad1 Nb6 20. c4 bxc4 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. Bxc4 h6 23. dxe5 dxe5 24. Bc3 Ba6 25. Bb3 c5 26. Qb2 c4 27. Ba4 Re6 28. Nxe5 Bb7 29. Bc2 Rae8 30. f4 Bd6 31. Kh2 Nh5 32. g3 f6 33. Ng6 Nxf4 34. Rxd6 Nxg6 35. Rxe6 Rxe6 36. Bd4 f5 37. e5 Nxe5 38. Bxe5 Qc6 39. Rg1 Qd5 40. Bxf5 Rxe5 41. Bg4 h5 42. Bd1 c3 43. Qf2 Rf5 44. Qe3 Qf7 45. g4 Re5 46. Qd4 Qc7 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D12"] [WhiteElo "2745"] [BlackElo "2813"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Qc7 7. Bd2 e6 8. Bb5+ Nc6 9. O-O Bd6 10. Bb4 O-O 11. Bxc6 bxc6 12. Nbd2 Rfb8 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Qc3 Qb4 15. Qxb4 Rxb4 16. b3 Nd7 17. a3 Rb6 18. b4 a5 19. Nb3 axb4 20. axb4 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 f6 22. Nc5 Nxc5 23. dxc5 Rxb4 24. Nd4 Rc4 25. Nxc6 Rxc5 26. Ne7+ Kf7 27. Nxf5 exf5 28. Ra7+ Kg6 29. g3 h5 30. Rd7 Rc1+ 31. Kg2 Rd1 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A50"] [WhiteElo "2608"] [BlackElo "2743"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "97"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+2945"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Ne2 a6 6. Nec3 c6 7. Na3 b5 8. Nc2 O-O 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. cxb5 axb5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. O-O e5 13. Qd2 exd4 14. Bxd4 Qe7 15. a3 Nc5 16. Rad1 Rfd8 17. Bf2 Ne6 18. Bh4 Rd7 19. Qc1 Qe8 20. Rfe1 Nh5 21. Bf1 Be5 22. g3 f6 23. f4 g5 24. fxe5 gxh4 25. exd6 hxg3 26. hxg3 Rg7 27. Ne2 Nxg3 28. Nxg3 Rxg3+ 29. Kf2 Rg7 30. Ne3 Qh5 31. Nf5 Rg5 32. Re3 Qh2+ 33. Ke1 Nf4 34. d7 Rd8 35. Qc3 Rg1 36. Rg3+ Rxg3 37. Nxg3 Qh4 38. Kf2 Kf7 39. b4 Ne6 40. Qf3 Ng5 41. Qf5 Ne6 42. Bh3 Qf4+ 43. Qxf4 Nxf4 44. Bf5 Ke7 45. Rh1 Rh8 46. Ke3 Ne6 47. Bxe6 Kxe6 48. Rxh7 Rd8 49. Nh5 {Kd5} 1-0 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.13"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B84"] [WhiteElo "2775"] [BlackElo "2793"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "6600+30"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. g4 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Bf3 Qa5+ 12. Qd2 Qxd2+ 13. Bxd2 Nd7 14. O-O-O Ne5 15. Be2 Bd7 16. f4 Nc6 17. Nb3 O-O-O 18. Bf3 Kc7 19. a3 Na7 20. Nd4 Nb5 21. Be3 Nxd4 22. Bxd4 Bc6 23. Rhf1 f6 24. Be2 h6 25. h4 b5 26. h5 Be4 27. Rd2 Kc6 28. Rfd1 Rd7 29. Be3 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 e5 31. c4 b4 32. axb4 Bxb4 33. Rd1 Re8 34. fxe5 Rxe5 35. Bd2 Bxd2+ 36. Kxd2 a5 37. Ra1 Kb6 38. Kc3 1/2-1/2

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Pictures by the official site

Standings after five rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date	Round	English	German
May 13	Round 5	Chris Ward	Klaus Bischoff
May 14	Round 6	Daniel King	Klaus Bischoff
May 15	Round 7	Daniel King	Klaus Bischoff
May 16	Free
May 17	Round 8	Daniel King	Oliver Reeh
May 18	Round 9	Maurice Ashley	Klaus Bischoff

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov	½-½	Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov		Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand		Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao		Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler		Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov		Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin		Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov		Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler		Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian		Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao		Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov		Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin		Veselin Topalov

US Ch: Krush wins, Kamsky-Ramirez playoff

Mon, 13 May 2013 08:29:18 GMT

US Championships: Krush crowned; playoff Kamsky vs Ramirez

In the final round of the U.S. Championship GM Gata Kamsky (above) nursed a half-point margin but could not defeat GM Ray Robson. Three players could win to catch Kamsky, but only GM Alejandro Ramirez got the full point. The two will play tomorrow at noon in a two-game rapid playoff.

Kamsky had a chance to clinch clear first place, and it looked for a time like a win as black would be possible. Robson, fighting for a top six finish for a 2013 World Cup qualification, mixed it up early by jettisoning some pawns to open lines. “He surprised me with b4, sacrificing two pawns for an attack,” Kamsky said. “I thought I should be winning, but somehow he had all these tactical resources.” Later, Robson kept the fire burning by sacrificing an additional exchange to keep the initiative.

Robson said he would have played solidly if possible, but he took what the position gave him. “There’s no way you can force a win against Gata,” Robson said. “[Kamsky] can punish you if you go for a win too much. Probably I just overestimated my position.”

The draw might still have been good enough for clear first, were it not for the continued heroics of the much lower ranked GM Alejandro Ramirez (above), this time against GM Larry Christiansen. Ramirez first offered his a-pawn to tie down Black’s bishop and rook, and then switched to probe the other side of the chessboard. Eventually weaknesses were created, and a passed e-pawn sealed the deal. “His queen is so badly placed on b6 that it is difficult to hold the kingside together,” Ramirez explained. “I didn’t see a defense for him.”

His game finished before Kamsky, so the only way he could be taken out of contention would have been for Robson to blunder. “I haven’t cheered for Ray this much ever,” Ramirez said about the waning moments of the top board.

“I really didn’t ever expect to be in this position,” Ramirez said of his impending playoff tomorrow. “It’s like a dream. Wow! It’s actually happening.” The two will meet Monday at noon in a pair of 25-minute rapid games, followed by an Armageddon bidding match if the score is tied 1-1. “Tomorrow’s going to be very stressful. I’ve never played a rapid playoff,” Ramirez said. Kamsky has played several tiebreaks in the World Cup, and has been successful twice in St. Louis at previous U.S. Championships.

Two other players could have stayed alive in the hunt, but neither GM Alex Onischuk nor GM Conrad Holt could keep pace. Onischuk could not gain an edge over IM Kayden Troff, who earned his first grandmaster norm with the draw. Troff said it was his third final-round attempt to earn a norm. “This time was scary,” he said. “Black against Onischuk. But I got through it.”

Pairings of the final round (nine, on Sunday, 12 May 2013)

White	Pts	Rtng	Black	Pts	Rtng	Result
GM Robson, Ray	4.5	2620	GM Kamsky, Gata	6.0	2741	½-½
GM Ramirez, Alejandro	5.5	2551	GM Christiansen, Larry	5.0	2579	1-0
GM Gareev, Timur	5.0	2674	GM Holt, Conrad	5.5	2513	1-0
GM Onischuk, Alexander	5.5	2666	IM Troff, Kayden W	4.5	2421	½-½
GM Benjamin, Joel	4.5	2534	GM Shankland, Samuel	4.0	2612	½-½
GM Akobian, Varuzhan	4.0	2616	GM Kaidanov, Gregory	4.0	2593	1-0
GM Finegold, Benjamin	4.0	2505	GM Shabalov, Alexander	4.0	2544	0-1
FM Sevian, Samuel	3.5	2371	GM Hess, Robert L	3.5	2595	½-½
FM Bryant, John Daniel	3.5	2442	Norowitz, Yaacov	3.5	2451	0-1
GM Shulman, Yury	3.0	2570	FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge	3.0	2463	1-0
GM Stripunsky, Alexander	3.0	2570	GM Ivanov, Alexander	2.0	2529	0-1
GM Khachiyan, Melikset	2.5	2518	GM Arnold, Marc	2.5	2538	½-½

WGM Jenifer Shahade and GM Yasser Seirawan with live commentary of the final round

Final standings (after nine rounds)

Rnk	Name	Pts	Rtng	TPR	W-We	SB
1	GM Kamsky, Gata	6.5	2741	2733	+0.01	34.75
2	GM Ramirez, Alejandro	6.5	2551	2737	+2.25	29.75
3	GM Onischuk, Alexander	6.0	2666	2670	+0.06	29.75
4	GM Gareev, Timur	6.0	2674	2690	+0.19	28.0
5	GM Holt, Conrad	5.5	2513	2679	+2.02	27.75
6	GM Christiansen, Larry M	5.0	2579	2623	+0.52	21.5
7	GM Shabalov, Alexander	5.0	2544	2626	+0.98	20.0
8	GM Robson, Ray	5.0	2620	2613	-0.10	19.75
9	IM Troff, Kayden W	5.0	2421	2614	+2.21	19.25
10	GM Benjamin, Joel	5.0	2534	2644	+1.30	24.0
11	GM Akobian, Varuzhan	5.0	2616	2554	-0.75	19.75
12	Norowitz, Yaacov	4.5	2451	2543	+1.10	17.5
13	GM Shankland, Samuel L	4.5	2612	2521	-1.11	17.0
14	GM Kaidanov, Gregory S	4.0	2593	2457	-1.63	15.5
15	GM Shulman, Yury	4.0	2570	2484	-1.01	15.25
16	GM Finegold, Benjamin	4.0	2505	2522	+0.21	15.0
17	FM Sevian, Samuel	4.0	2371	2474	+1.24	15.5
18	GM Hess, Robert L	4.0	2595	2460	-1.59	13.75
19	FM Bryant, John Daniel	3.5	2442	2471	+0.28	16.75
20	GM Ivanov, Alexander	3.0	2529	2408	-1.46	11.5
21	GM Arnold, Marc T	3.0	2538	2425	-1.35	10.75
22	FM Sammour-Hasbun, Jorge	3.0	2463	2422	-0.47	10.0
23	GM Khachiyan, Melikset	3.0	2518	2431	-1.03	12.5
24	GM Stripunsky, Alexander	3.0	2570	2415	-1.87	12.25

Women's section

After four unsuccessful attempts, IM Irina Krush finally defended her U.S. Women’s Championship title on Sunday. Her draw with WGM Camilla Baginskaite made her score 8/9 and put the tournament out of reach for IM Anna Zatonskih, who also won but finished a half-point behind Krush.

Interview with Irina Krush, conducted by GM Maurice Ashley

“This has been my smoothest victory,” Krush said of her five championships, before pausing to recall them all. “Well actually when I won my first with 8½ out of nine, that also went well.” That first title was in 1998, the only time she competed without Zatonskih in the field. The two have mostly traded titles the last few years. “We have to break this pattern,” Krush joked.

Ranking after round nine (Sunday, 12 May 2013)

All photos by Tony Rich, Saint Louis Chess Club

Norway 2013 Rd4: Sergey Karjakin still perfect

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:12:38 GMT

Norway Chess 2013

Round four

Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov

The spectators enjoy some rare top-notch chess at Bryne

A remarkable round in many ways, and one that had fans deservedly glued to their screens (or their seats for the lucky ones there). Naturally attention gravitated to the game by Magnus Carlsen with Peter Svidler, and the question was whether this would be the Norwegian’s first win of the tournament.

Magnus Carlsen trying to figure out what is not clicking in the tournament

The opening was certainly exotic, and Carlsen’s Sicilian Moscow ended up with a strange development after Svidler played the very poor 6…Ne5. Sadly for his home fans, Magnus was unable to make the most of his chances and several imprecisions let Svidler reestablish the balance which he never let go of. By move 43 a disappointed Carlsen gave up and they drew. In the post-mortem, he was his usual critical self and said that he would need to up his game not just to reposition himself to try and win the tournament, but to even win a game.

Anand could not stop Nakamura

Those watching Vishy Anand against Hikaru Nakamura certainly had their fill of gritty chess as Nakamura came up with a concept in the Ruy Lopez that was perhaps underestimated by the world champion. After equalizing the American showed fighting resources that allowed him to fight for more and his wish came true as Anand failed to find the best resources. It was an impressive display by Nakamura as he pushed his way forward and outlasted his opponent to take him into sole second. An interesting statistic worth noting in this is only two players in the world have positive scores against Anand: Garry Kasparov and… Hikaru Nakamura.

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Anand-Nakamura:

[Event "Supreme Masters 2013"] [Site "Sandnes NOR"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2013.05.08"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 {This opening is one of the favourites of Anand so Nakamura's choice was a great surprise for me.} 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. Re1 Na5 (11... exd4 12. cxd4 Nxe4 $2 13. Nxe4 Rxe4 14. Bd5 {wins}) 12. Bc2 c5 13. dxc5 dxc5 14. Qe2 Ng4 15. Nf1 Be6 16. Ng5 Nxe3 17. Nxe6 fxe6 {The control of the central squares compensates the weakness on the pawn structure.} 18. Nxe3 c4 {Obviously the pressure on f2 is the best choice for Black.} 19. Qh5 Qc7 20. Ng4 Rf8 21. Re2 Rad8 {Black pieces are very active and they can improve by bringing the knight to d3!} 22. Rd1 Rxd1+ 23. Bxd1 Rd8 24. Bc2 b4 {A nice idea. Perhaps not the best one but it creates problems for White.} (24... Nc6 {was safer and the position is about equal.}) 25. cxb4 (25. Rd2 $1 {was the best move and White is better after that. Black should continue with ...Nc6. The rook cannot be taken with} Rxd2 {due to} 26. Qe8#) 25... Nc6 26. Ba4 Nxb4 27. Qxe5 Qe7 28. Qh5 Nxa2 29. g3 $2 {This is probably the decisive mistake.} (29. Ne5 {was correct and the position remains unclear.}) 29... Nc1 30. Rc2 Nd3 {Now Black's pieces are all participating while White's pieces are desconnected with two pieces on each side of the board.} 31. e5 Rf8 32. Rxc4 Bxf2+ 33. Kg2 Bc5 34. Bc6 Rf5 35. Qh4 Ne1+ 36. Kh3 Qf7 $1 {Controlling h5 and f1. The main threat is ...Rh5 winning the queen.} 37. Rxc5 (37. Qd8+ Bf8) 37... Rh5 38. Bg2 Rxh4+ 39. gxh4 Qf5 0-1

This might easily have been the game of the round were it not for the amazing feat by Sergey Karjakin as he scored his fourth straight win, this time against the world number two, Levon Aronian. The opening was exactly the same played by Karjakin and Hammer in round two, but Aronian came prepared with a serious improvement over the Norwegian’s play. Somehow it did not work out as he planned and the Russian first equalized and then proceeded to outplay his opponent to beat him in an impressive display.

When asked when the last time he had started with four in four, Karjakin replied, “I don’t know, maybe when I was ten…”

GM Gilberto Milos annotates Aronian-Karjakin:

[Event "Supreme Masters 2013"] [Site "Sandnes NOR"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator "GM Gilberto Milos"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2013.05.08"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bg2 c6 9. e4 d5 10. exd5 cxd5 11. Ne5 Bb7 12. O-O Nc6 13. Bf4 Na5 14. Rc1 Ba3 15. Rb1 Bb4 16. Na4 Ne4 17. a3 Be7 18. cxd5 (18. Qd3 {was played by Hammer against Karjakin two rounds ago.}) 18... exd5 19. b4 Nc6 20. Rc1 Rc8 21. Bh3 {It looks like Levon prepared this position relying on this move.} f5 $1 ({there is a trick after} 21... Rc7 22. Nxf7 Rxf7 23. Bxc7 Qxc7 24. b5 {winning material.}) 22. f3 Nd6 23. Qd3 Nxe5 {Instead of the solid ...g6, Sergey takes risks.} 24. dxe5 {and Levon accepts the challenge. More solid was} (24. Bxe5) 24... Rxc1 25. Bxc1 (25. Rxc1 Nc4 26. Bxf5 Kh8 {is very unclear. The computer evaluates this as equal.}) 25... Nc4 26. f4 {The idea of Bc1. Now the e-pawn is well defended. Karjakin felt this was a decisive blunder.} b5 27. Nc3 {This is a mistake because the d pawn will advance with gain of tempo. Black is already better but two other moves were better than this.} ({The first is} 27. Nb2 a5 $15) ({and the other was} 27. Nc5 Bxc5+ 28. bxc5 d4 $15) 27... Qb6+ 28. Rf2 d4 29. Ne2 (29. Na4 {was the last chance to try to block Black's passed pawn.} Qd8 30. Nb2 (30. Nc5)) 29... Rd8 30. Qxf5 (30. Bg2 Be4 $1 {forcing the advance of the pawn. If} 31. Bxe4 fxe4 32. Qxe4 {The d-pawn starts its march of doom.} d3 33. Nc3 d2) 30... d3 31. Qe6+ Kf8 32. Qf5+ (32. Qxb6 axb6 33. Nc3 d2 {wins a piece.}) 32... Ke8 33. Qxh7 d2 {The rest is easy.} 34. Bxd2 Rxd2 35. e6 Rd1+ 36. Bf1 Qxe6 37. Qh5+ Kf8 38. Nc3 Qc6 0-1

Sergey Karjakin analyzes his game against Levon Aronian, showing what he saw

GM Daniel King provides video analysis of Aronian vs Karjakin

Tomorrow he faces Magnus Carlsen and the tournament may easily be decided by what happens there.

Veselin Topalov seemed on his way to a fairly smooth victory over Jon Hammer, but lost his way in the endgame and was forced to share the point. Wang Hao and Teimour Radjabov played an interesting Nimzo-Indian Saemisch with 4.f3 that drew, but it turned out that the Azeri was walking into some opening preparation Hao had done over two years ago. While the commentators complimented the Chinese player on his remarkable memory, Hao tried to shrug it off as nothing special. Even Radjabov refused to let that one slide and pointed out that over those two plus years Wang Hao would have looked and prepared at least fifty other lines and openings, and to be able to casually recall some old material he had prepared without looking at it again was definitely remarkable.

Replay all games

[Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Svidler, Peter"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2868"] [BlackElo "2769"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} c5 {0} 2. Nf3 {1} d6 {0} 3. Bb5+ {22} Nd7 {0} 4. O-O {29} a6 {340} 5. Bd3 {39} Ne5 {505} 6. Nxe5 {403} dxe5 {15} 7. a4 {156} Nf6 {624} 8. b3 {198} Be6 {295} 9. Bb2 {229} Bxb3 {439} 10. Qe2 {214} c4 {440} 11. Bxc4 {9} Bxc4 {1} 12. Qxc4 {7} Rc8 {4} 13. Qb3 {955} Qc7 {28} 14. d3 {212} e6 {398} 15. Nd2 {92} Nd7 {78} 16. Nc4 {385} b6 {453} 17. Kh1 {244} Rb8 {480} 18. Qc3 {873} f6 {191} 19. g3 {312} b5 {532} 20. axb5 {397} axb5 {30} 21. Ne3 {9} Qxc3 {570} 22. Bxc3 {2} b4 {16} 23. Bd2 {80} b3 {18} 24. cxb3 {9} Rxb3 {44} 25. Ra8+ {7} Rb8 {161} 26. Rxb8+ {84} Nxb8 {22} 27. Rc1 {200} Kd7 {78} 28. Rb1 {214} Nc6 {53} 29. Nc4 {271} Be7 {85} 30. f4 {100} exf4 {70} 31. gxf4 {66} Rb8 {45} 32. Rxb8 {7} Nxb8 {5} 33. Kg2 {10} Nc6 {6} 34. Bc3 {6} Bc5 {93} 35. Kf3 {142} Nd4+ {95} 36. Bxd4 {22} Bxd4 {1} 37. f5 {35} g6 {54} 38. fxe6+ {42} Kxe6 {4} 39. h3 {5} h5 {74} 40. Na5 {6} Bb6 {32} 41. Nc4 {2978} Bd4 {2971} 42. Na5 {0} Bb6 {0} 43. Nc4 {0} Bd4 {0} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Aronian, Levon"] [Black "Karjakin, Sergey"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2813"] [BlackElo "2767"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {0} 3. Nf3 {4} b6 {1} 4. g3 {10} Ba6 {5} 5. b3 { 6} Bb4+ {6} 6. Bd2 {6} Be7 {5} 7. Nc3 {7} O-O {14} 8. Bg2 {7} c6 {15} 9. e4 {6} d5 {6} 10. exd5 {6} cxd5 {7} 11. Ne5 {6} Bb7 {10} 12. O-O {11} Nc6 {6} 13. Bf4 {5} Na5 {16} 14. Rc1 {11} Ba3 {9} 15. Rb1 {5} Bb4 {10} 16. Na4 {6} Ne4 {50} 17. a3 {31} Be7 {17} 18. cxd5 {17} exd5 {203} 19. b4 {222} Nc6 {102} 20. Rc1 {160} Rc8 {955} 21. Bh3 {425} f5 {21} 22. f3 {1090} Nd6 {264} 23. Qd3 {287} Nxe5 { 1160} 24. dxe5 {248} Rxc1 {23} 25. Bxc1 {451} Nc4 {25} 26. f4 {14} b5 {321} 27. Nc3 {447} Qb6+ {311} 28. Rf2 {21} d4 {23} 29. Ne2 {503} Rd8 {57} 30. Qxf5 {15} d3 {38} 31. Qe6+ {5} Kf8 {39} 32. Qf5+ {153} Ke8 {1326} 33. Qxh7 {660} d2 {825} 34. Bxd2 {170} Rxd2 {29} 35. e6 {486} Rd1+ {77} 36. Bf1 {11} Qxe6 {9} 37. Qh5+ {22} Kf8 {188} 38. Nc3 {234} Qc6 {70} 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Wang, Hao"] [Black "Radjabov, Teimour"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E25"] [WhiteElo "2743"] [BlackElo "2745"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} e6 {16} 3. Nc3 {33} Bb4 {22} 4. f3 {394} d5 {157} 5. a3 {5} Bxc3+ {219} 6. bxc3 {13} c5 {97} 7. cxd5 {6} Nxd5 {71} 8. dxc5 {7} Qa5 {160} 9. e4 {8} Nf6 {16} 10. Be3 {84} O-O {61} 11. Qb3 {244} Nfd7 {533} 12. a4 {114} Qc7 {197} 13. Qa3 {15} b6 {44} 14. a5 {74} bxc5 {90} 15. a6 {6} c4 {46 } 16. Qa5 {7} Qxa5 {358} 17. Rxa5 {8} Nc6 {15} 18. Ra2 {606} Nde5 {1247} 19. f4 {192} Ng4 {50} 20. Bc1 {302} Rb8 {244} 21. Nh3 {774} Rb1 {1281} 22. Kd2 {36} Rb6 {124} 23. Bxc4 {906} Nb8 {6} 24. Be2 {241} Nf6 {446} 25. Nf2 {423} Bxa6 {78 } 26. c4 {155} Rc6 {679} 27. Kc3 {226} Rfc8 {82} 28. Ra4 {92} Nfd7 {83} 29. Be3 {213} Nb6 {9} 30. Bxb6 {91} axb6 {11} 31. Kd4 {316} b5 {246} 32. cxb5 {256} Rd8+ {14} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2783"] [BlackElo "2775"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. e4 {0} e5 {0} 2. Nf3 {0} Nc6 {0} 3. Bb5 {0} a6 {0} 4. Ba4 {0} Nf6 {0} 5. O-O {0} b5 {0} 6. Bb3 {5} Bc5 {0} 7. c3 {11} d6 {5} 8. d4 {7} Bb6 {5} 9. Be3 {6} O-O {62} 10. Nbd2 {8} Re8 {17} 11. Re1 {49} Na5 {49} 12. Bc2 {54} c5 {14} 13. dxc5 {329} dxc5 {65} 14. Qe2 {140} Ng4 {841} 15. Nf1 {38} Be6 {6} 16. Ng5 {705} Nxe3 {41} 17. Nxe6 {6} fxe6 {3} 18. Nxe3 {9} c4 {3} 19. Qh5 {411} Qc7 {323} 20. Ng4 {293} Rf8 {50} 21. Re2 {66} Rad8 {107} 22. Rd1 {272} Rxd1+ {884} 23. Bxd1 { 6} Rd8 {53} 24. Bc2 {618} b4 {771} 25. cxb4 {625} Nc6 {31} 26. Ba4 {150} Nxb4 { 865} 27. Qxe5 {516} Qe7 {106} 28. Qh5 {245} Nxa2 {495} 29. g3 {377} Nc1 {51} 30. Rc2 {105} Nd3 {9} 31. e5 {339} Rf8 {533} 32. Rxc4 {462} Bxf2+ {43} 33. Kg2 {21} Bc5 {315} 34. Bc6 {301} Rf5 {130} 35. Qh4 {28} Ne1+ {4} 36. Kh3 {20} Qf7 { 4} 37. Rxc5 {247} Rh5 {7} 38. Bg2 {84} Rxh4+ {6} 39. gxh4 {4} Qf5 {36} 0-1 [Event "Norway Chess 2013"] [Site "Stavanger"] [Date "2013.05.12"] [Round "4"] [White "Topalov, Veselin"] [Black "Hammer, Jon Ludvig"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D71"] [WhiteElo "2793"] [BlackElo "2608"] [Annotator ""] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "NOR"] [TimeControl "40/6000+30:20/3000:900+30"] 1. d4 {0} Nf6 {0} 2. c4 {0} g6 {0} 3. g3 {0} c6 {5} 4. Bg2 {16} d5 {8} 5. e3 {4 } Bg7 {130} 6. Ne2 {34} O-O {113} 7. O-O {14} b6 {17} 8. b3 {179} Bb7 {62} 9. Nbc3 {168} Nbd7 {434} 10. a4 {430} Re8 {497} 11. Ba3 {511} e6 {910} 12. Rc1 { 429} Ba6 {642} 13. Qc2 {376} Rc8 {123} 14. Qa2 {116} Bf8 {132} 15. Bxf8 {29} Rxf8 {37} 16. Rfd1 {445} Qe7 {116} 17. Nf4 {42} dxc4 {236} 18. bxc4 {5} e5 {10} 19. Nd3 {7} exd4 {391} 20. exd4 {77} Qd6 {17} 21. Ne2 {444} Rfe8 {586} 22. Nef4 {859} Rcd8 {1264} 23. h4 {715} c5 {54} 24. dxc5 {458} Nxc5 {5} 25. Nd5 {169} Nxd5 {26} 26. Bxd5 {41} Nxd3 {584} 27. Rxd3 {6} Qc7 {4} 28. Qd2 {300} Bb7 {25} 29. h5 {14} Bxd5 {348} 30. cxd5 {7} Qe5 {0} 31. h6 {146} Qh5 {4} 32. d6 {35} Re2 {15} 33. Qf4 {282} Qe5 {5} 34. Qf3 {237} Re1+ {14} 35. Rxe1 {6} Qxe1+ {3} 36. Kg2 {12} Qe6 {5} 37. Qc6 {106} f6 {88} 38. Qc7 {124} Qd7 {3} 39. Qc4+ {42} Kf8 {44} 40. Rd1 {101} Qb7+ {27} 41. Kg1 {3020} Qf7 {196} 42. Qb4 {0} Qe6 {60} 43. a5 {0} bxa5 {2} 44. Qxa5 {0} Rd7 {78} 45. Qc5 {0} Kf7 {40} 46. Qc2 {0} a5 { 571} 47. Rd4 {0} a4 {121} 48. Rxa4 {0} Qxd6 {31} 49. Ra1 {0} Qe6 {169} 50. Ra8 {0} Qd5 {107} 51. Ra1 {0} Qe6 {0} 52. Rb1 {0} Qf5 {235} 53. Qc4+ {0} Qe6 {0} 54. Qa4 {0} Qd5 {28} 55. Re1 {0} g5 {201} 56. Qc2 {0} 1/2-1/2

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board

Levon Aronian and Wang Hao enjoy a moment in the parking lot near the chessmobiles

Pictures by the official site

Standings after four rounds

Playchess commentary schedule

Date	Round	English	German
May 13	Round 5	Chris Ward	Klaus Bischoff
May 14	Round 6	Daniel King	Klaus Bischoff
May 15	Round 7	Oliver Reeh	Klaus Bischoff
May 16	Free
May 17	Round 8	Daniel King	Oliver Reeh
May 18	Round 9	Maurice Ashley	Klaus Bischoff

Pairings and results of Norway Chess 2013

Round 1: Wednesday May 8, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Veselin Topalov
Viswanathan Anand	½-½	Levon Aronian
Hikaru Nakamura	1-0	Wang Hao
Peter Svidler	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Teimour Radjabov
Round 2: Thursday, May 9, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Viswanathan Anand
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian	1-0	Hikaru Nakamura
Wang Hao	1-0	Peter Svidler
Jon Ludvig Hammer	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Round 3: Friday, May 10, 2013 in Sandnes
Viswanathan Anand	1-0	Veselin Topalov
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler	½-½	Levon Aronian
Teimour Radjabov	1-0	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Sergey Karjakin	1-0	Wang Hao
Round 4: Sunday, May 12, 2013 in Bryne
Magnus Carlsen	½-½	Peter Svidler
Veselin Topalov	½-½	Jon Ludvig Hammer
Viswanathan Anand	0-1	Hikaru Nakamura
Levon Aronian	0-1	Sergey Karjakin
Wang Hao	½-½	Teimour Radjabov
Round 5: Monday, May 13, 2013 in Sandnes
Hikaru Nakamura		Veselin Topalov
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Wang Hao
Peter Svidler		Viswanathan Anand
Teimour Radjabov		Levon Aronian
Sergey Karjakin		Magnus Carlsen
Round 6: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Teimour Radjabov
Veselin Topalov		Wang Hao
Viswanathan Anand		Sergey Karjakin
Levon Aronian		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Peter Svidler
Round 7: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 in Sør Hidle
Wang Hao		Levon Aronian
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Magnus Carlsen
Peter Svidler		Veselin Topalov
Teimour Radjabov		Viswanathan Anand
Sergey Karjakin		Hikaru Nakamura
Round 8: Friday, May 17, 2013 in Sandnes
Magnus Carlsen		Wang Hao
Veselin Topalov		Levon Aronian
Viswanathan Anand		Jon Ludvig Hammer
Hikaru Nakamura		Teimour Radjabov
Peter Svidler		Sergey Karjakin
Round 9: Saturday, May 18, 2013 in Stavanger
Levon Aronian		Magnus Carlsen
Wang Hao		Viswanathan Anand
Jon Ludvig Hammer		Hikaru Nakamura
Teimour Radjabov		Peter Svidler
Sergey Karjakin		Veselin Topalov

WGP Geneva: four decisive games

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:31:20 GMT

Neva Women's Grand Prix in Geneva

Round eight report

One of the central games of the tournament was an encounter between Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina, who in a few months will play the Women's World Championship match in China. The incumbent Anna Ushenina outplayed challenger Hou Yifan with the black pieces in 40 moves. The game is analysed by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin below.

Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522

The glare: former Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk ...

... at the start of her successful game against Chinese WGM Ju Winjun

Nana Dzagnidze (above right) got a big advantage in the opening against Kateryna Lahno. Her pieces were better placed than opponent's, and she had good play on the queenside. It was possible for her to just increase her advantage step by step, but Nana decided to grab a pawn on the kingside, and after a few inaccurate moves in time pressure the Georgian player had to play for a draw. However she missed the key move (35…Rb3), and after that it was Black who started to play for win.

After 79 moves Katerina Lagno had wrapped up the game and taken the full point.

The game between two leaders, Anna Muzycuk and Bela Khotenashvili finished
in a draw, so that both players stay in the lead before the final free day.

Tatiana Kosintseva (above right) decided to play a new line with 7.Be3 in the Caro-Kann. Olga Girya was not ready for this variation and started to have problems with development.

After 13.c4 Qa5 Olga's position became hopeless and Tatiana took home the full point and now shares the 3-4 place, half a point behind the leaders.

Replay all games of the round

Select games from the dropdown menu above the board
A full summary of all games is to be found here on the official tournament site.

Current standings

Information and photos supplied by FIDE Press Officer Anastasiya Karlovich

Analysis by Adrian Mikhalchishin

The famous chess trainer, who coached a number of participants of the Geneva Grand Prix from their pre-teen years, provides live commentary during the games. Above Adrian (left) is discussing a round eight game with visiting Australian GM Ian Rogers.

[Event "Fondation Neva Women's Grand Prix"] [Site "Geneva"] [Date "2013.05.11"] [Round "8.3"] [White "Hou, Yifan"] [Black "Ushenina, Anna"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [Annotator "MIKHALCHISHIN"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:32:05"] [BlackClock "0:31:13"] {It was the game of the tournament for both players - in September they will play a match for the World Championship title in home city of Hou Yifan. So this game was a real warming up for the girls, or perhaps we could say 0! Now they really understand the power of the opponent. I would not overestimate or underestimate the result. It can have a different impact on each of the players, and although it is good to win it is not clear what is the best outcome here. Let us wait and enjoy their fantastic fight!} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 Ngf6 5. O-O cxd4 ({Deadly dangerous here is materialism:} 5... Nxe4 6. Qe2 Nef6 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Rd1 a6 9. Bc4 e6 10. Ng5 Qb6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nxe6 Be7 13. Re1 Ng8 14. Bf4 $18 {1-0 Velicka,P-Johann,C/Passau op 2000}) 6. Qxd4 g6 ({The classical way is} 6... e5 7. Qd3 h6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. Be3 O-O) 7. e5 dxe5 8. Qxe5 Bg7 9. Re1 e6 10. Qd6 a6 11. Bf1 Bf8 ({Ushenina believed that more proper move here is} 11... Qb6 {but could not remeber her old analysis.}) 12. Qd3 ({ Serious attention deserves} 12. Qf4) 12... Bg7 13. c4 O-O 14. Nc3 b6 ({Better try was to develop differently in the center} 14... Qc7 15. g3 e5 16. Bg5 h6 17. Be3 Re8 18. Qc2 Nc5) 15. Bf4 Bb7 16. Rad1 Qc8 17. h3 Rd8 18. Na4 $2 {Looks tempting , but this decentralization is a serious mistake.} ({White could keep slight advantage after} 18. a3 Nh5 19. Bh2 Bh6 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. Qxd8+ Qxd8 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Bxe5 Bf4 24. Bxf4 Nxf4 25. g3 Nh5 26. Na4 Rd6 27. c5 bxc5 28. Nxc5 Bc8) 18... b5 $1 {An unexpected counterstike.} ({White was ready for the long line} 18... Bc6 19. Nxb6 Nxb6 20. Qxd8+ Qxd8 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Bc7 Rc8 23. Bxb6 Bxf3 24. gxf3 Nd7 25. Be3 Bxb2 26. Rb1 Ba3 {but it is not clear what will happen after the blockade on c5.}) 19. cxb5 ({White could better hold after} 19. Nc3 bxc4 20. Qxc4 Bxf3 21. Qxc8 Rdxc8 22. gxf3) 19... axb5 20. Rc1 Nc5 21. Qxb5 {Ushenina honestly admitted that she overlooked this move, but eventually Black obtain a very strong initiative} ({White would get worse ending after} 21. Rxc5 Rxd3 22. Rxc8+ Rxc8 23. Bxd3 bxa4 24. Ne5 Nd5) 21... Rxa4 22. Rxc5 Qa8 23. Bc7 Rc8 24. Ne5 ({White would get a slightly worse position after the best move} 24. Bd6 Rxc5 25. Bxc5 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Ra5 27. Qc4 Nd7) 24... Rxa2 25. Nc4 Nd5 $1 {Now White's pieces started to become vulnerable.} 26. Bg3 ({It was necessary to try} 26. Be5) 26... Bc6 27. Qb3 Bd4 $1 {A very strong move. Now White's rook is in trouble.} 28. Nd6 Rxb2 ({Very strong was} 28... Bxc5 29. Nxc8 Bd4 30. Rb1 Kg7 31. Qc4 Bf6 32. Nd6 Rxb2) 29. Qc4 Bxc5 30. Qxc5 Rcb8 {Now Rb1 is a threat and it becomes clear that White is in serious trouble.} 31. Ne4 Rb1 32. Re2 Rxf1+ $1 33. Kh2 ({Immediately losing was} 33. Kxf1 Rb1+ 34. Re1 Qa6+) 33... Rbb1 {Black has won a rook and White has just few cheap threats.} 34. Be5 Rh1+ 35. Kg3 Rhe1 36. Ra2 {This brave sacrifice cannot help.} Qxa2 37. Qxc6 Qa3+ 38. f3 Rxe4 $1 39. Bd6 Qxd6+ 40. Qxd6 Reb4 0-1

In a form crisis? World Championship challenger Hou Yifan from China

The reigning World Champion Anna Ushenina, Ukraine

Trainings DVDs by Adrian Mikhalchishin in the ChessBase Shop

Schedule and results

Round 1 on Friday, May 3rd 2013 at 14:00
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
Round 2 on Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	½-½
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	1-0
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	GM	1-0	2522
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	1-0	WGM	½-½	2298
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	½-½
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	0-1
Round 3 on Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	½-½	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
Round 4 on Monday, May 6th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
Round 5 on Wednesday, May 8th 2013 at 14:00
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	½-½	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	½-½	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
Round 6 on Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544	½-½	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	½-½	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	1-0	WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
Round 7 on Friday, May 10th 2013 at 14:00
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	0-1	GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522	0-1	IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585	1-0	GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
WGM	Olga Girya	2463	0-1	GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548	0-1	GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491	0-1	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
Round 8 on Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491	1-0	WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Yifan Hou	2617	0-1	GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545	0-1	GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517	1-0	WGM	Olga Girya	2463
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505	½-½	GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298	½-½	GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
Round 9 on Monday, May 13th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
WGM	Olga Girya	2463		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544		GM	Yifan Hou	2617
Round 10 on Tuesday, May 14th 2013 at 14:00
GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491		GM	Yifan Hou	2617
GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545		WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544
GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517		GM	Anna Ushenina	2491
IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505		GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548
WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298		WGM	Olga Girya	2463
GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522		GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585
Round 11 on Wednesday, May 15th 2013 at 12:00
GM	Anna Muzychuk	2585		GM	Alexandra Kosteniuk	2491
WGM	Olga Girya	2463		GM	Viktorija Cmilyte	2522
GM	Kateryna Lagno	2548		WGM	Tuvshintugs Batchimeg	2298
GM	Anna Ushenina	2491		IM	Bela Khotenashvili	2505
WGM	Wenjun Ju	2544		GM	Tatiana Kosintseva	2517
GM	Yifan Hou	2617		GM	Nana Dzagnidze	2545

Kavalek in Huffington: Alekhine and the art of chess

Sun, 12 May 2013 00:30:26 GMT

Chess Art Under Alekhine's Watchful Eye

By GM Lubomir Kavalek

Every few years somebody discovers the French-American artist Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), connects him with chess and quotes him:"While all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists."

Duchamp was exaggerating, but he loved chess and he was a decent player. In three chess olympiads in the 1930s, he played on the French team alongside the world champion Alexander Alekhine (1892-1946). They must have discussed the similarities between chess and art.

"To me, chess is not a game; it is art," Alekhine said. The quote was prominently displayed at the website devoted to the Alekhine Memorial chess tournament. The event finished this month. It was a showcase of the Russian Chess Federation, a tribute to the fourth official world chess champion. Many world-class players took part, including the world champion Vishy Anand.

It was mainly sponsored by Andrei Filatov who loves to place chess players amid fine paintings, hoping that they, too, will create masterpieces. Last year he helped to stage the world championship match between Anand and Boris Gelfand at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. He made different arrangements for the Alekhine memorial this year – dividing it between the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg. The grandmasters played on a stage, decorated with pictures from Alekhine's life.

The photo is from the last day in Paris. In the forefront, the eventual co-winners Gelfand and Levon Aronian, play against each other. On the next table a big sensation is being played out. The French grandmaster Laurent Fressinet is about to take down the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, and in Alekhine's style. The stage has almost a mythical feeling: so many Alekhine's eyes watching every single move of today's great players.

The French players did very well in Paris. Before the tournament moved to Russia, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave led the field and Fressinet shared second place. Alekhine and Duchamp would have approved. It was a different story in Saint Petersburg. Here is the final tally. Aronian won the trophy on a tiebreak.

Alekhine would have enjoyed the first round game between the top-rated Aronian and the three-time Chinese champion Liren Ding, a perfectly timed attack. It won the prize for the best combination.

[Event "Alekhine Memorial - Paris"] [Site "Paris/St Petersburg FRA/RUS"] [Date "2013.04.21"] [Round "1"] [White "Ding, Liren"] [Black "Aronian, Levon"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2707"] [BlackElo "2809"] [Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington Post"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "3r2k1/q2r1ppp/1NpPp3/ppPnB3/1PpP3Q/P6P/5PP1/5RK1 w - - 0 36"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2013.04.21"] {Aronian is trying to give back the exchange, but the three-time Chinese champion does not buy it and rips black's position apart.} 36. Nxd5 $1 exd5 ( 36... f6 37. Nxf6+ (37. Ne7+ Kh8 38. Qxf6 $1 $18) 37... gxf6 38. Qxf6 Rf8 39. Qxe6+ Rdf7 (39... Rff7 40. Re1) 40. d5 $18) 37. Bxg7 $1 {Tearing up the pawn blanket in front of the black king.} Kxg7 (37... f6 38. Bxf6) 38. Qg5+ Kf8 39. Qf6 $1 {Threatening 40.Qh8 mate, white gains time to bring the rook into play and block the f-pawn.} Kg8 40. Qg5+ Kf8 41. Qf6 $1 {The repetition gained time on the clock.} Kg8 42. Re1 $1 {Finally, the rook enters the attack with a lethal effect.} axb4 43. Re5 {A decisive liftoff, threatening 44.Rg5+.} h6 44. Rh5 Qxa3 45. Qxh6 $1 {Not giving black a chance to fight back.} ({After} 45. Rxh6 $2 Qc1+ 46. Kh2 Qxh6 47. Qxh6 c3 48. Qg5+ {white has a perpetual check, but not more.}) 45... f6 46. Qxf6 1-0

What could the players say about the great maestro? Here's a sampling of their thoughts:

Alekhine was an outstanding, impressive, active, tough, imaginative and entertaining player, close to our time, perhaps even originating the modern play... He made a great contribution to many openings... Constantly pushing for initiative, he liked to place his pieces into more dynamic position... He beat Jose Raul Capablanca who had chess worked out and made it look easy... Defeating him was almost an impossible task in the eyes of public, but Alekhine did it in the 1927 epic world championship match, outplaying his Cuban foe in technical as well as in complicated positions...

Picture of Alekhine, taken in 1913 in St Petersburg, with Capablanca

The Soviets had a complicated relationship with Alekhine, but eventually embraced him in the 1950s. They published collections of his games and organized the first Alekhine Memorial tournament in Moscow in 1956, won by Mikhail Botvinnik and Vassily Smyslov.

Alekhine became an inspiration to many generations. Kasparov, Aronian and countless others were influenced by his games. Peter Svidler's mother didn't play chess, but instead of singing lullabies to her son, she would read him from books of Alekhine's games, and watched him to become six-time Russian champion and one of the world's best players.

Alekhine's way of playing was not endorsed by all players. "His style worked for him, but it could scarcely work for anybody else," wrote Bobby Fischer nearly 50 years ago in Frank Brady's Chessworld. "His conceptions were gigantic, full of outrageous and unprecedented ideas." Fischer was quite capable of creating brilliant combinations and surprising attacks, but he preferred to play "good moves," a lot of good moves.

Fischer's style of play was endorsed by Magnus Carlsen, the world's top-rated player. "What looked quite difficult, Fischer made look easy." he said. "I try to emulate that." Letting his intuition run loose, Carlsen puts a lot of effort into the middlegame, slowly tightening the screws.

In Carlsen's recent interview with the PBS television host, Charlie Rose, the word "strangulation" pops up. Anatoly Karpov was accused of the same python-like style. It sounds violent, but may be this is what chess is. Even the artist Duchamp said that chess is a violent sport.

It doesn't hurt your body, but your brain, your ego. Instead of concussions chess players suffer humiliation after a terrible loss. They start to question their confidence, doubting the worthiness of what they do. But in the end, they collect themselves and go back to the chessboard. And some of them may remember Alekhine's words: "I consider chess an art and accept all the responsibilities that art places upon its devotees."

Anand mentioned Alekhine's grandiose victory in San Remo in 1930.

Alekhine finished undefeated with 13 wins and two draws, 3.5 points ahead of his nearest rival Aaron Nimzowitsch. It was the mutual encounter between the first two winners Anand seemed to enjoy the most. In the final position Nimzowitsch could hardly move; Alekhine created a memorable zugzwang.

[Event "San Remo"] [Site "San Remo"] [Date "1930.01.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Alekhine, Alexander"] [Black "Nimzowitsch, Aaron"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C17"] [Annotator "GM Lubomir Kavalek/The Huffington Post"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "2r2k2/p1rqn1p1/Ppn1p2p/1B1pPp2/1P1P1P2/2R2N2/2R3PP/2Q3K1 w - - 0 27"] [PlyCount "7"] [EventDate "1930.01.15"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "15"] [EventCountry "ITA"] {Black is pinned all over. His pieces are jammed in tight quarters. White's set-up of heavy pieces is the Alekhine train: the queen is pushing two rooks from behind like a locomotive pushes two wagons. in front. It was used by Bobby Fischer in the first game of the match against Boris Spassky to gain an open file.} 27. Ba4 $1 {"The last line of the positional attack started 12 moves ago. In order to save the piece threatened by 28.b5, black must sacrifice the b-pawn. After this, he succeeds in protecting the important squares with the king but must still resign as a consequence of a complete Zug-zwang. An instructive finish!" - Alekhine} b5 (27... Ke8 28. b5) 28. Bxb5 Ke8 29. Ba4 Kd8 30. h4 $1 {"After a couple of irrelevant pawn moves, black will be obliged to play Qd7-e8, after which b4-b5 wins immediately." - Alekhine } 1-0

Russell Enterprises recently reissued Alekhine's Best Games 1908-1937. This 21st Century Edition is in algebraic notation with Alekhine's notes to 220 games. The text is left as Alekhine wrote it, but analytical corrections, additions and enhancements are available for download on the publisher's website.

Original column here – Copyright Huffington Post

The Huffington Post is an American news website and aggregated blog founded by Arianna Huffington and others, featuring various news sources and columnists. The site was launched on May 9, 2005, as a commentary outlet and liberal/progressive alternative to conservative news websites. It offers coverage of politics, media, business, entertainment, living, style, the green movement, world news, and comedy. It is a top destination for news, blogs, and original content. The Huffington Post has an active community, with over one million comments made on the site each month. According to Nielsen NetRatings, the site has around 13 million unique visitors per month (number for March 2010); according to Google Analytics the number is 22 million uniques per month.