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World Blitz Championship day one: Anand leads
16.11.2009
– World Champion Vishy Anand, who turns forty in just under a month, is leading this event with 12.0/14 points, two more than his nearest rival Magnus Carlsen. Behind the Norwegian we find a big surprise figure (hint: he is almost twenty years older than Anand), followed by Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk. A photo report will follow, here for now are the
results and games.
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Edward Winter's Chess Explorations (30)
16.11.2009
– Another pot pourri is presented by the Editor of Chess
Notes. A prediction about Garry Kasparov made when he was only 11, a curious
Lilienthal reference in a chess poem, an almost unknown player who reportedly
challenged Alekhine for the world title in 1927, and an oft-published nineteenth-century
miniature which is spurious. A further visit to the
wonderful world of chess lore...
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German Team Championships – second weekend
16.11.2009
– The German Schachbundesliga – team chess championship – is the strongest in the world, with 273 players from 34 countries in 16 teams. The top female player is IM Anna Musychuk of Slovenia. The 2009/10 season went into its second weekend with rounds three and four. Werder Bremen, had to play without their top Azeri players owing to visa problems.
Pictures, results and games.
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Tal Memorial 2009 – impressions from Moscow
15.11.2009
– We received a number of baffled letters asking us why we did not, as is usually our habit, include large numbers of pictures in our daily reports on the Tal Memorial. Well, our usual photographers unfortunately took ill, and it was only in the final round that WGM Yana Melnikova arrived at the venue and sent us a bunch of photos from the end of the tournament.
Here is her report.
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Kramnik wins Tal Memorial 2009, Carlsen number one
14.11.2009
– Aronian beats Anand with the black pieces, Carlsen did the same to Leko, Ponomariov beat Morozevich, while Kramnik drew against Ivanchuk. The result: Kramnik wins the tournament, with 6.0/9 and a 2883 performance. Ivanchuk and Carlsen share 2nd-3rd, with the young Norwegian trainee of Garry Kasparov going to number one in the world in the unofficial live rankings.
Final round report.
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Tal R08: Carlsen beats Ponomariov, moves to sole fourth
13.11.2009
– Feeling better? At last the top seed Magnus Carlsen, 18, has scored a win in this tournament. It came in the form of an explosive English Attack in the Scheveningen, which floored the former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov in 31 moves (actually with a mate in three). With plus one Carlsen now occupies fourth place alone, behind Kramnik, Anand and Ivanchuk.
Full report with annotations.
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All Saints in Stockholm
13.11.2009
– Sweden is not really the most romantic place on earth in November. It is quite cold already and the days are getting shorter and shorter. Nevertheless, two brave chess players from Hamburg/Germany did not mind all the weather circumstances and came to Stockholm to play chess. Cheap flights and Swedish hospitality made it possible.
Pictorial report by Andreas Albers.
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White squares and diagonals...
13.11.2009
– ... were the issue in this position where the first player had sacrificed an exchange to occupy the 7th rank and drive the black king to g6. Yet after
25...Rad8 an idea was required. What do you think, is the best continuation a move...
A) with the queen;
B) with a bishop;
C) or with a pawn?
The solution is here,
but first ponder over it with a
larger version of the diagram.
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Tal R07: Ivanchuk beats Gelfand
13.11.2009
– Four draws today, in 23, 31, 36 and 40 moves, with Morozevich holding Anand to a draw and preventing the World Champion from catching up with his predecessor Kramnik. The game of the day was Ivanchuk-Gelfand, two winners of round six. There was only one winner today: Vassily Ivanchuk, who moves up to share second with Anand. Report plus an
interview with Alexander Morozevich.
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Interview with the World Junior Champion 2009
12.11.2009
– On November 4th the World Junior Championship in Patagonia, Argentina, ended, with a final-round surge by the French participant (and top seed) Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who caught his main rival, Sergei Zhigalko from Belarus, to take the title. Maxime has given us an exclusive English language interviews, while we use the opportunity to take a
nostalgic look back at past events.
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Tal R06: Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Gelfand win
11.11.2009
– And Vladimir Kramnik has once again taken the sole lead, with plus three and a 2955 performance. In a remarkable game against former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, Kramnik pressed for 81 moves until the Ukrainian's succumbed to zugzwang. Gelfand laid Aronian's Meran System to waste, Morozevich-Ivanchuk ended in a black victory by the
masked chessplayer!
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Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate
11.11.2009
– Yesterday we published a report on an Islandic court awarding Fischer's estate to his lawfully wedded wife Miyoko Watai. Today we received a message from Marilyn Young, Fischer's "Filipina live-in partner", who is seeking justice for her and Fischer's eight-year-old daughter Jinky. The two are on their way to Iceland to file their claim. Marilyn has sent us some
fairly compelling photographic evidence.
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