Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information

The Inaugural Chess Day in Iceland

2012-02-03T09:50:00.001-06:00

Davisdottir - Olafsson, the President of Iceland watching the game

Iceland celebrated its first “Chess Day” on January 26th, the country’s first GM and ex-FIDE president Fridrik Olafsson’s birthday. GM Olafsson, who turned 77 that day, was honored at a reception at Bessastadir, the Presidential Residence. The day featured many events across all of Iceland, including simuls and blitzes in schools, shopping malls, swimming pools and at Althingi (the Parliament House).

GM Fridrik Olafsson (b. 1935) joined the world’s chess elite from the mid 1950s onwards. His illustrious career included victories at Hastings, Wijk aan Zee and the Reykjavik Open (three times), beating four world champions on the way, Tal, Fischer, Petrosian (twice) and Karpov.

GM Olafsson played significant part in the programs offered on Chess Day 2012. At Bessastadir, he played Iceland’s newly crowned Under-14 national champion (10-year old Nansy Davidsdottir, one of the many promising young players emerging in Iceland currently) and simuls at the headquarters of the Icelandic Broadcasting Company, including its director general.

Iceland now counts 13 GMS, despite a population of only 300,000. GM Johann Hjartarson, who 20 years ago played in the semi-finals of the candidates matches, played simuls against MPs. Althingi has many notable chess players, including WIM Gretarsdottir, former president of the Icelandic Chess Federation. Another former president of the Icelandic Chess Federation is the chief political advisor to the Icelandic PM. So the words chess and politics are really intertwined in Iceland!

But the Chess Day wasn’t only celebrated by the Icelandic president and MPs; 18-year old IM Hjorvar Steinn Gretarsson, who had a breakthrough performance at last year’s European Team Championship (including a famous win against Shirov), where he captured two GM norms, played a game against the people of Iceland on the Internet. ICC hosted the Icelandic Championship in 2-minute blitz.

Parliament members playing against GM Johann Hjartarson

Iceland’s latest GM, Stefan Kristjansson and IM Bragi Thorfinnsson, played a marathon blitz match in a shopping mall in Reykjavik; another simul was played by Bragi’s older brother, IM Bjorn Thorfinnsson, in a swimming pool, where he swam between floating chess boards. Playing chess in swimming pools is gaining popularity in Iceland (which is known for its geothermal energy and naturally heated swimming pools) – remember that famous Evans-Fischer photo?

The Chess Day was also celebrated on the Artic Circle, in Grimsey, which counts only 60 inhabitants. Grimsey is famous as being the beneficiary of a major chess gift from American scholar and chess enthusiast Willard Fisk, who helped organize the first American Chess Congress in 1857. Grimsey’s own national holiday is in fact November 11, Fiske’s birthday.

Bjorn Thorfinnsson and his opponents

Bragi Thorfinnsson and Stefan Kristjansson playing in a shopping mall

Chess in Grimsey

The Icelandic Chess Federation, together with the Reykjavik Chess Academy, and the Icelandic Chess School, organized the Chess Day. The Chess Day will be celebrated annually in the future.

The Icelandic Chess Federation is now in the midst of preparations for the famous Reykjavik Open tournament, which will take place in perhaps the most spectacular playing venue any chess tournament in the world has ever enjoyed. Among registered players are 25 GMs, including Italian GM Fabiano Caruana, who finished in 2-4th place in the recent Wijk aan Zee event.

There are very attractive travel packages offered with Icelandair. For more information about the Reykjavik Open, please visit www.chess.is.

Chess in Kindergarten

Fabiano Caruana

Gibraltar Final Press Release

2012-02-03T07:12:00.001-06:00

2012 TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR CHESS FESTIVAL
Monday 23 January - Thursday 2 February 2012

PRESS RELEASE 27 - 3 February 2012

Round 10 Report by John Saunders

GM NIGEL SHORT (ENG) WINS TRADEWISE 2012
Hou Yifan Breakthrough Gibraltar 2012

The 10th Tradewise Gibraltar Festival ended yesterday at the Caleta Hotel with England’s Nigel Short winning the tournament for a record third time after tying for first with tournament sensation Hou Yifan of China and then winning a pulsating rapidplay play-off by 1½-½. Short and Hou Yifan had finished on 8/10, with Michael Adams (England), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), Viktor Bologan (Moldova), Emil Sutovsky (Israel) tying for third place on 7½ points.

For winning, Nigel Short netted the £20,000 first prize and also the £5,000 special prize (set up in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee) for the best placed Commonwealth competitor. 17-year-old Hou Yifan takes home £12,000 for finishing second plus the £10,000 women’s prize and the £600 Junior prize. The four players in the next score group shared £26,500 equally.

Nigel Short loves playing in Gibraltar and this is his third success on the Rock. He tied for first place in the inaugural event in 2003 and took clear first place the following year. Last year he scored a phenomenal 8½/10 – half a point more than this year – and easily good enough for first most years, but it wasn’t even good enough to tie for first as Vasily Ivanchuk, playing at his stratospheric best, scored an amazing 9/10. So this year’s success made up for that slight injustice.

The last round saw keen competition for the big prizes. It was still barely possible to believe that Hou Yifan was out ahead of the field but her three wins against 2700+ wins proved her right to be there beyond all shadow of a doubt. Could she go the extra mile and win outright? She came pretty close. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was her highest rated opponent yet but she played in the same way that had brought her success in previous rounds. She showed no fear and sustained pressure throughout, and was not afraid to give up material (in this case a pawn) to maintain her positional edge. The last few moves were played with both players in considerable time pressure, relying purely on the 30-second increment for thinking time. No mistakes were made and the position petered out to a draw.

Hou Yifan drawing meant that others could catch her by winning their games. Nigel Short and Viktor Bologan were soon in the ascendant, against Krishnan Sasikiran and Michael Adams respectively. The Moldovan GM pressed hard and won a pawn. Most pundits thought this should be enough to win but reckoned without the British Champion’s resilience. A draw resulted, leaving both players out of the running for first prize.

Nigel Short showed courage from the off, playing Black against Sasikiran and adopting the risky Modern Benoni. Things remained fairly even until move 29 when a slip by the Indian GM was exploited by Nigel to win pawn. The position still remained fairly loose and unclear, but Nigel remained rock steady and gradually reeled in the win. It was a classic Short game – risk-taking, counterattacking play to reach a messy position which his well-honed tactical ability enables him to win.

This meant a tie-break – two games at the rate of 10 minutes for all the moves, plus a 5-second increment. Adjusting from longplay chess to rapidplay can be difficult, as attested by Michael Adams, who joined the commentary team for the finale. Michael knows this better than anyone as winner of an earlier Gibraltar shoot-out. In the tie-break, experience finally triumphed over youth. Nigel is an inveterate blitz player and he soon gained the upper hand in both games. That said, experts spotted a fleeting moment in the first game where Hou Yifan might have struck a blow but she missed her chance and lost. The second was an uphill struggle as Nigel blocked all her attacking tries, and was agreed drawn in a position where Nigel was comfortably better. But again Michael Adams was very complimentary about her play during the tournament and that is the important thing for her to take away from tournament (apart from the big cheque!).

Not quite the fairy tale finish for Hou Yifan, then, but for Nigel Short, who had lost two championship tie-breaks in the past year, at the Commonwealth and British championships, justice had finally been done. Incidentally, on a patriotic note, his English colleagues Michael Adams and David Howell also enjoyed good tournaments: between the three of them, only one game was lost – and that was the game that David lost to Michael!

Hou Yifan Breaks Through in Gibraltar

Without detracting in any way from Nigel’s commendable achievement, the big chess sensation of the past few days has been Hou Yifan’s almost unprecedented run of wins against world-class opposition. It is worth looking back at her tournament to see exactly how she did it.

The line-up in Gibraltar is formidable, with no fewer than 11 players holding ratings in excess of 2700 – the generally-recognised level at which the elite top 40 players in the world start. And there are at least 50 players in the field with grandmaster titles, or with grandmaster-level ratings. The tournament is also a magnet for the cream of women professional players, this sporting the world’s top three women players plus several more of the elite – almost certainly the strongest female line-up at a tournament in chess history.

Hou Yifan ranks 25th in the Gibraltar field. Though only 17, she has long since been identified as a genuine chess prodigy, qualifying for the woman grandmaster title before she was even in her teens. In the overall world rankings, including both men and women players, she is currently ranked 209th.

As Hou Yifan arrived to play in Gibraltar at the end of January, it was already well-known that she was a player with enormous potential who, in time, would have a good chance of challenging Judit Polgar for the status of number one woman player in the world and perhaps join the elite 2700+ players.

What came as a surprise was how little time she needed to get there! In round three she was paired with Zoltan Almasi of Hungary, rated 2717 and world ranked no.27. She played excellently, putting him under pressure and winning material and then game.

An excellent result, certainly, but players rated 2600 beat 2700s with reasonable regularity so we would be guilty of over-hyping were we to characterise this as “sensational”. The next day Hou Yifan faced another stern test, against the top English player Michael Adams, rated 2724 and number 25 in the world. She faced him down in his favourite Marshall Attack and held him to comfortable draw.

Next round, a set-back – a loss to Krishnan Sasikiran. She was then paired with the strong woman player Mariya Muzychuk, a likely future rival for the women’s world championship title. A tough game, but Hou Yifan’s quick tactical eye netted her another win.

Her score at this stage was 4½/6 – an excellent performance and half a point behind the eight leaders on 5. Yet, if any pundit had suggested at this point that Hou Yifan would go on to tie for first place in the tournament, I doubt they would have been taken seriously! This is the point where her tournament really took off and transported her into the stratosphere.

Providence took a hand in the shape of the pairings. She was to have the white pieces against Judit Polgar, the strongest woman chessplayer who has ever lived. That statement doesn’t need to be qualified or hedged in any way – it is simply a fact. Was Hou Yifan up to the challenge? She’s such a shy, slight young woman, and with an appearance younger than her age, that it is too easy to assume that she might be daunted by such a challenge. But appearances can be very deceptive: she packs a lot of chessboard confidence and aggression into her slight frame and relishes a challenge.

The game with Judit Polgar was balanced until about move 20 when it was Judit who faltered. It was really only a half-chance for Hou Yifan but she grasped her opportunity with alacrity and scored a sensational victory. Now the world’s word processors really started whirring. Judit, it has been pointed out, had not lost a long play tournament game to a woman player for 20 years (and that was to her own sister, Susan!). True, she has played very few games against women in that time, but that is simply because she has spent most of those two decades matched with her peer group – which didn’t include any other women players!

Clearly this was a watershed moment for women’s chess. Hou Yifan had demonstrated that she was a worthy opponent for Judit Polgar. Suddenly we have the makings of a women’s chess rivalry. As well as a great moment for Hou Yifan, it marked the culmination of years of effort and planning at the Gibraltar tournament, where women’s chess has long been given a greater priority than elsewhere on the chess circuit. The meeting of the two star women players and the sensational result... well, it simply couldn’t have happened anywhere other than in Gibraltar!

That was a red-letter day for Hou Yifan and took her into joint second place behind the leader Michael Adams. I guess most of us chess pundits thought that might be the high watermark for her challenge. Surely one of these experienced 2700+ rated players would overcome her challenge? Next up she faced Le Quang Liem, rated 2714 and ranked 29th in the world. Once again Hou Yifan played aggressively, sacrificing two pawns to mix it up. Both players were short of time and the Vietnamese GM blundered and lost. But GMs only blunder when they are put under pressure – the trick is to give them lots of problems to solve and exploit the chances when they come. Mikhail Tal knew how to do it – and so apparently does Hou Yifan!

Hou Yifan was now tied first with Michael Adams on 6½. This was quite simply uncharted territory. Over the past few years, we’ve seen women players such as Antoaneta Stefanova, Nana Dzagnidze and Viktorija Cmilyte go toe to toe with the super-GMs at Gibraltar but they’ve not flown quite so high in the table. Even Judit Polgar was a point adrift of this score. Logic, reason and the rating list dictated that Hou Yifan’s run should end around here. When the pairings went up – Black against Alexei Shirov – that seemed to put the tin hat on it. Shirov is rated 2710 and ranked 31st. More significantly, he is one of the most admired players of the modern era, who beat Vladimir Kramnik to qualify for a world title match against Garry Kasparov in the late 1990s (though sadly the match never happened because of financial difficulties).

A bridge too far for Hou Yifan? No! She played a counterattacking line of the Najdorf Sicilian made famous by Bobby Fischer – the Poisoned Pawn variation. This was a statement that she intended to go toe to toe with her famous adversary. A great chunk of opening theory ensued – the women’s world champion knows her theory extremely well – and Shirov innovated by taking her b-pawn. But it seemed to be laced with more poison than his own b2 pawn and his position started to wilt as Hou Yifan’s position gradually got better. Eventually it came down to a level ending but one where Hou Yifan’s pair of pawns were just a little bit more advanced and threatening than Shirov’s and the Latvian’s super-GM’s king was trapped on the back rank. Would she start getting nervous and blow it? No – she hung and won.

I guess it was at this point that most of us realised that Hou Yifan had broken through some sort of barrier. Two barriers, actually: the big deal a couple of rounds previously had been the face-off between the two top women players but that had become almost an irrelevance. Hou Yifan had already moved on and was showing that it wasn’t just about beating Judit. She had proved that she was capable of dishing out punishment to any 2700 who sat in front of her.

What we were seeing was a player who had made a large jump in standard in a very short time. The clue was there in her world championship match last year with Humpy Koneru. On paper the two were closely matched but the evidence of the chess and the ease of the result suggested that Hou Yifan had put a distance between herself and her Indian challenger. After the last round, Michael Adams joined the commentary team for the play-offs and made much the same point. Basically, the rating list hasn’t quite caught up her rapid rate of improvement. Her playing strength is that of a 2700+ player.

The win against Alexei Shirov had done something else. Hou Yifan was now in the lead on her own! There was still one round to go. Would she suddenly get nervous and experience fear of success, like a tennis star serving for their first Grand Slam title? I think we knew enough about her temperament by now to think better of such a pessimistic idea. The pairing was her toughest yet – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 2747 rating and ranked 14th in the world. She played an enterprising game, sacrificing a pawn for some active piece play. Once again the key to her play was to pressurise her opponent and give herself opportunities to demonstrate her tactical prowess. Mamedyarov was a tough nut to crack, though, and he held firm. But, make no mistake, Hou Yifan made the running in this game.

This guaranteed her a tie for first place and Nigel Short managed to reach the same score as her. We won’t dwell on the play-off match. Nigel is a formidable blitz player and he played it excellently. For him victory was hugely deserved as he always turns it on in Gibraltar and was in any case extremely unlucky not to take first last year with a huge 8½/10 score that only Vasily Ivanchuk on his stratospherically best form could eclipse. Michael Adams in the commentary box explained the difficulty of adjusting to a super-fast time control after ten rounds of longplay chess and that may well explain Hou Yifan’s showing in the shoot-out. It doesn’t detract at all from what went before.

But what a performance by Hou Yifan! Chess pundits have been casting around the last few days, trying to think of something to match it. Judit Polgar put in a marvellous performance in Madrid in 1994 but the doyen of Spanish chess journalists, Leontxo García, present in Gibraltar, opined that Hou Yifan’s was the better one. Hou Yifan has left women’s records behind and is already looking for new worlds to conquer.

One comparable performance that does spring to mind was the (then) unknown Alexander Morozevich’s 9½/10 at the last Lloyds Bank Masters in London in 1994. Having witnessed it at first hand, I recall that it caused a sensation and marked the birth of a new star. Of course, many of the great names of chess, such as Karpov, Kasparov and Fischer, made spectacular breakthroughs in one of their early outings.

I am tempted to compare it with the sporting achievement of another 17-year-old outsider who surprised the pundits and fans in one of his first big open tournaments. Boris Becker at Wimbledon in 1985! I hope someone mentions Hou Yifan’s performance to him – he’s a keen chessplayer and came along as a honoured guest to the 2011 London Chess Classic.

The final word must go to the tournament itself. Given the emphasis placed by the organisers on the women’s element of the tournament, I can think of no finer way for the tournament to celebrate its own tenth anniversary than by seeing one of the women competitors tie for first place. And just as Hou Yifan went from outsider to first place over ten rounds, the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival has gone from small beginnings to the world’s premier open tournament over ten years. They are both amazing achievements.

Georgi Tringov Memorial – Round Six

2012-02-03T07:03:00.001-06:00

Branko Tadic

The 34th Bulgarian Open Chess Championship 2012 – Georgi Tringov Memorial, organized by the Bulgarian Chess Federation, the Chess Club Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Plovdiv Municipality, is taking place from 29th January to 5th February in Novotel Hotel, Plovdiv.

The tournament will be played over 9 rounds of Swiss system and is valid for FIDE elo and GM/IM norms. Total prize fund is 10000 EUR, with 2000 EUR reserved for the winner. 267 players compete.

GM Branko Tadic, recently appointed chief editor of “Chess Informant”, is leading the race with perfect score after six rounds. On Thursday he defeated the top-seeded GM Ivan Cheparinov and is set to play GM Vasil Spasov in the 7th round.

Round 6 standings:

1. GM Tadic Branko SRB 2487 – 6.0

2-3. GM Spasov Vasil BUL 2570 and GM Georgiev Kiril BUL 2658 – 5.5

4-17. GM Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2659, IM Benidze Davit GEO 2516, GM Nikolov Momchil BUL 2560, GM Drenchev Petar BUL 2493, GM Petrov Marijan BUL 2521, IM Smith Bryan G USA 2460, IM Milchev Nikolay BUL 2434, GM Stanojoski Zvonko MKD 2455, IM Bukal Vladimir Jr CRO 2434, IM Enchev Ivajlo BUL 2430, FM Filev Georgi BUL 2349, IM Dimitrov Radoslav BUL 2437, GM Grigorov Grigor BUL 2491 and IM Mladenov Plamen BUL 2384 – 5.0

18-33. Dobrev Nayden BUL 2256, GM Antic Dejan SRB 2504, GM Popchev Milko BUL 2463, FM Lilov Valeri BUL 2411, WGM Videnova Iva BUL 2360, IM Piscopo Pierluigi ITA 2386, IM Bruno Fabio ITA 2439, IM Marholev Dimitar BUL 2370, FM Pavlidis Anastasios GRE 2359, WGM Voiska Margarita BUL 2325, FM Hadzimanolis Antonios GRE 2332, FM Pantev Veselin BUL 2389, IM Stamenkov Vanco MKD 2334, Indjic Aleksandar SRB 2427, Arnaudov Petar BUL 2121, Vlashki Nino BUL 2235 and Sofranov Velizar BUL 2168 – 4.5 etc

Sulava won the San Remo Open 2012

2012-02-03T06:57:00.003-06:00

Croatian Grandmaster Nenad Sulava won the San Remo Open 2012

San Remo Open 2012, an event of undisputed charm, took place in San Remo, Italy on 5-8th January 2012.

During that weekend the City of Flowers welcomed the second edition of the Chess Festival “San Remo Chess 2011″, an unmissable appointment that, after many years, marked the return of an international chess tournament to San Remo.

The tournament was held at the Nyala Suite Hotel (Via Solaro 134, www.nyalahotel.com), official seat of the event. Modern building, the Nyala Suite Hotel is a 4 star hotel of recent design of San Remo, with a beautiful swimming pool surrounded by a garden where are acclimated many tropical and exotic species. The hotel, situated in a residential hill area, is seat of international events, congresses, galas and exhibitions.

Returning to the Chess Festival, San Remo can boast an exceptional coat of arms in the chess environment as it hosted in 1930 a world-class tournament that became legend with the convincing victory of Alexander Alekhine.

It was the biggest tournament ever organized in Italy and one of the most important international events of that period in which almost all the best chess players have participated.

The tournament, which took place at the Casino, saw the victory of the World Champion Alekhine with a nearly perfect performance of 14 victories over 15 matches.

The story and the photos of such an epic event are documented in the book written by Enrico Cecchelli, member of the Imperia Chess Circle, entitled: Sanremo 1930: il torneo dei giganti.(San Remo 1930: the tournament of the giants)

Now, thanks to the Imperia Chess Circle, that signed a prestigious partnership with this fascinating discipline by organizing the longest running Italian tournament – this year the international Chess Festival of Imperia touched its 53rd edition, San Remo returns to host the Chess Festival.

The 2nd “San Remo Chess 2012″ ended with the victory of the Croatian Grandmaster Nenad Sulava who won the Open A with 6,5 points from 7 games. Second place goes to Master Loris Cereda from Milan with 5,5 points and third is Master Damian Topczewski from Turin with 5 points.

The Open B was won by the Milanese Francesco Albano with 6 points from 7 rounds, followed by the Biella Dario Borghi (second place) with 5,5 points and by the Imperia’s Jacopo Privitera (third place) with 4,5 points.

All the results and further information about the tournament, the city and the venue at www.sanremoscacchi.com

See you in January 2013 for the 3rd edition!

Moscow 2012 LIVE!

2012-02-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Endgame improvement

2012-02-03T02:43:00.000-06:00

White to move. How should white proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Changes in the LIVE ratings

2012-02-03T02:07:00.003-06:00

#	Name	Rating	+/−	Games
1	Carlsen	2834.6	−0.4	13
2	Aronian	2823.9	+18.9	14
3	Kramnik	2801.0	0.0	0
4	Anand	2799.0	0.0	0
5	Radjabov	2784.4	+11.4	13
6	Nakamura	2770.8	+11.8	23
7	Karjakin	2766.2	−2.8	13
8	Morozevich	2764.8	+1.8	10
9	Ivanchuk	2763.7	−2.3	23
10	Caruana	2762.4	+26.4	23
11	Grischuk	2761.0	0.0	0
12	Mamedyarov	2752.0	+5.0	10
13	Topalov	2751.9	−18.1	13
14	Kamsky	2741.3	+9.3	13
15	Svidler	2740.9	−8.1	13
16	Tomashevsky	2740.0	0.0	0
17	Nepomniachtchi	2735.0	0.0	0
18	Gashimov	2734.1	−26.9	16
19	Wang Hao	2733.0	0.0	0
20	Dominguez	2730.0	0.0	0
21	Jakovenko	2729.0	0.0	0
22	Gelfand	2727.0	−12.0	13
23	Adams	2726.1	+2.1	15
24	Ponomariov	2724.2	−2.8	2
25	Leko	2720.0	0.0	0
26	Almasi	2717.5	+0.5	15
27	Le Quang Liem	2717.2	+3.2	10
28	Giri	2716.8	+2.8	23
29	Navara	2715.7	+3.7	21
30	Vallejo	2712.2	+7.2	10
31	Riazantsev	2710.0	0.0	0
32	Vitiugov	2709.0	−17.0	11
33	Polgar, Judit	2708.6	−1.4	10
34	Wojtaszek	2708.6	+2.6	6
35	Moiseenko	2706.0	0.0	0
36	Grachev	2705.9	+12.9	19
37	Sutovsky	2705.4	+2.4	12
38	Malakhov	2705.0	0.0	0
39	Jobava	2704.0	0.0	0
40	Sasikiran	2702.7	+2.7	10
41	Wang Yue	2702.1	+8.1	9
42	Naiditsch	2700.6	−1.4	8

Source: http://2700chess.com

Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou: This tournament can become the biggest in Europe

2012-02-03T01:54:00.000-06:00

Alexander Kostiev and Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou

This tournament can become the biggest in Europe

Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou, member of board of European chess union from Greece, came to Moscow for participation in business program of RSSU Cup “Moscow Open”, and answered the questions of Eldar Mukhametov, the tournament website reporter.

Q: Mr. Tsorbatzoglou, can you share your impressions about RSSU Cup “Moscow Open 2012″?

A: For many years Mr. Alexander Kostiev was inviting me to visit Moscow Open. We’ve worked together a lot, especially in the field of school and youth events and he wanted me to visit this tournament and to hear my thoughts. And finally I have managed to come and I am positively surprised…

In my opinion this tournament may be the biggest open tournament in Europe, but for the moment, there is almost no promotion outside of Russia.

I am really impressed with organization of the tournament. The facilities of the tournaments halls, the press-center, the analysis rooms are excellent. Some areas are even better organized than a Chess Olympiad, press-center for example.

The job of the staff is fantastic, everything has been done to make more than 1500 participants feel comfortable. Also I would like to mention that the opening ceremony was like a fairy tale. Rarely in FIDE or European events you can see such ceremonies.

RSSU CUP Opening Ceremony

I believe that if there will be better promotion, additional 500 participants would come from Europe, India and some other countries to play this tournament. Moscow Open provides great opportunities for everybody. I think that Mr. Kostiev and Mr. Zhukov should start looking for more playing rooms and additional hotels for participants.

Also people should be informed about some cultural activities: theaters, museums, exhibitions and so on. Moscow combines all those great possibilities, even in this period of the year when it is so cold. I am Greek and I come here from the south and even for me such weather is not a problem. What I want to do I can do. This tournament is a unique experience.

Q: Are you professional chess player?

A: I’ve started as a chess player and became FIDE master. I even played for Greek junior national team and played in the 1988 Chess Olympiad with Greek B team in Thessaloniki, from where I come from.

I worked and was active in many chess fields: as professional chess player, as trainer, as tournament organizer and now I dealing mostly with administration. I am engineer but also professional organizer not only for chess tournaments; actually I own a company which organizes and markets congresses and various events. For example, on April, I organize for the eighth year in a row a big event called Games Festival, which includes not only chess competitions but also bridge and other activities like darts and scrabble.

Q: You were here also to hold seminar for chess organizers, can you tell us about it?

A: The seminar was very successful. Twelve persons participated and it was well organized. Actually when I came here I was little worried because now I am learning Russian, but I had a professional interpreter during the seminar. The people were very interested in the topics and provided a lot of interesting questions. After this seminar they will be able to apply soon for the title of “International Organizer”.

FIDE Events Commission was reconstructed in the last FIDE congress in Krakow and received certain authorities with more actions and tasks. One of them is to educate and register international chess organizers. There is the title International Organizer that is given by FIDE and until now it was possible to obtain it just with the proof that someone organized some tournaments. Now it won’t be enough and the interested organizer should follow at least one seminar.

FIDE IO Seminar in Moscow

In Moscow we had the first seminar and it was a test event. Soon we will have a final model and plan of such seminars. FIDE already established the area of education for arbiters and trainers and now is going to provide the area for international organizers. Chairman of our Committee, Ignatius Leong co-ordinates these efforts.

Q: Did you enjoy the trip to the Russian capital?

A: I feel very nice in Russia. You know that Greeks and Russians have a common history and sincere friendship for 1000 years. I had very interesting time in Moscow. I was here twenty years ago, that was an unbalanced period, and now I can see an attractive, modern, stable and secure city. And today, thanks to the work of the Russian Chess Federation, Moscow Chess Federation and Russian State Social University the chess in Moscow started to revive. I can even say that Moscow is the Mecca of chess.

14th Dubai Open

2012-02-03T01:00:00.000-06:00

14^th DUBAI OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup

The Dubai Chess & Culture Club has the pleasure to announce that the club will organize the 14th DUBAI OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP to be held in (DUBAI) United Arab Emirates 14th to 24th April 2012.

Dowload Regulations and Registration Form

Official web-site http://www.dubaichess.ae/

Vugar Rasulov is champion of Azerbaijan

2012-02-03T00:33:00.000-06:00

Vugar Rasulov is champion of Azerbaijan

The 2012 Azerbaijan Chess Championship for men was held from 22nd to 30th January. Ten players participated in the round robin tournament.

GM Vugar Rasulov defeated GM Sarhan Guliev in the final round to move ahead of the main contender Azer Mirzoev and claim the title of the national champion. Rasulov collected 7 points, while Mirzoev finished with 6.5.

Final standings:

1 GM Rasulov Vugar AZE 2537 - 7
2 GM Mirzoev Azer AZE 2523 - 6.5
3 GM Durarbeyli Vasif AZE 2542 - 6
4 GM Mamedov Nidjat AZE 2601 - 5
5 IM Mammadov Zaur Fazahir AZE 2368 - 4
6 Rzayev Bahruz AZE 2308 - 4
7 GM Abbasov Farid AZE 2551 - 4
8 GM Ibrahimov Rasul AZE 2550 - 3
9 FM Izzat Kanan AZE 2309 - 3
10 GM Guliev Sarhan AZE 2523 - 2.5

The youngest chess player of India was awarded for outstanding perfomance

2012-02-03T00:06:00.000-06:00

From Right to Left Mr. Nawang Rigzin Zora Hon’ble Minister for Tourism & Culture J&K State, Mr. Paduranga K. Pole (IAS) Distirct Development Commissioner, Mr. Jagjit Singh DIG Udhampur Reasi Range, Mr. Shakeel Beg Senior Superintendent of Police Udhampur.

The youngest chess player of India was awarded for outstanding performance

Mr Nawang Rigzin Zora, Minister of Tourism and Culture of J&K State of India, presented award to Shivanshi Kalsotra (D/o Sh. Aman Kalsotra & Smt. Monika Gupta) student of Kindergarten age Four year student of Little Flower Convent High School Udhampur. She is awarded in the Republic Day Function held at Govt. Degree College Udhampur for J&K State sub junior category Chess Champion and most youngest player of Chess in the State who recently bring laurels for district in the Chess Championship.

Final Gibraltar Standings

2012-02-02T14:43:00.000-06:00

Final standings

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2605	8.0	2872.0
2	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2677	8.0	2838.0 wins playoff
3	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2724	7.5	2807.0
4	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	AZE	2747	7.5	2783.0
5	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2680	7.5	2734.0
6	GM	Sutovsky Emil	ISR	2703	7.5	2669.0
7	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2714	7.0	2733.0
8	GM	Almasi Zoltan	HUN	2717	7.0	2730.0
9	GM	Howell David W L	ENG	2603	7.0	2725.0
10	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2700	7.0	2717.0
11	GM	Movsesian Sergei	ARM	2700	7.0	2711.0
12	GM	Svidler Peter	RUS	2749	7.0	2700.0
13	GM	Negi Parimarjan	IND	2641	7.0	2694.0
14	GM	Polgar Judit	HUN	2710	7.0	2693.0
15	GM	Laznicka Viktor	CZE	2704	7.0	2681.0
16	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2660	7.0	2632.0
17	GM	Gustafsson Jan	GER	2643	7.0	2628.0
18	GM	Jussupow Artur	GER	2569	7.0	2625.0
19	GM	Salem A R Saleh	UAE	2505	7.0	2621.0
20	GM	Berg Emanuel	SWE	2550	7.0	2603.0
21	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2683	7.0	2594.0
22	GM	Kanep Meelis	EST	2509	7.0	2556.0
23	GM	Cabrera Alexis	ESP	2504	7.0	2544.0

Full standings: http://chess-results.com/tnr63931.aspx

The chess model

2012-02-02T13:51:00.000-06:00

Create your own caption

2012-02-02T12:09:00.000-06:00

Can you create a clever caption?

Sharp eyes chess tactic from Gibraltar

2012-02-02T12:02:00.000-06:00

Houska vs Zatonskih (Gibraltar 2012)

White just played d7. How should black proceed?

Hou Yifan vs Nigel Short playoff!

2012-02-02T11:04:00.007-06:00

Click on the image above to view the full size version.

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Battle of Gender Playoff

2012-02-02T10:52:00.001-06:00

Hou Yifan and Nigel Short tie for 1st place

Women's World Champion Hou Yifan and Nigel Short both scored 8/10 in the Gibraltar Masters so a play-off is now required. In the final round today Hou Yifan drew her game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov on board 1 and Nigel Short defeated Krishnan Sasikiran on board 3.

LIVE games will begin soon.

Aronian open statement about Candidates Tournament

2012-02-02T07:27:00.001-06:00

Levon Aronian, the winner of the Tata Steel Chess tournament and member of the 2800 club, submitted an open statement regarding the upcoming Candidates Tournament. The statement was received via the Armenian Chess Federation and regards a possible Candidates event in Azerbaijan, where GM Levon Aronian states he will not participate in case it is selected as venue.

Here is the full open statement of GM Levon Aronian.

To: FIDE PRESIDENT KIRSAN ILYUMZHINOV
FIDE PRESIDENTIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Dear Mr. President
Dear Presidential Board Members
I learnt from the media, that the Chess Federations of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria had submitted an application on holding the Candidates Tournament of World Championship.
I’d like to inform you that general atmosphere in Azerbaijan and continuous tensions between our countries make my participation in such high ranked tournament in Azerbaijan impossible. A responsible and important event, such as the Candidates Tournament, requires peace of mind and special concentration. No circumstances, if they are not chess-related, should prevent the grandmaster from demonstrating all of his skills. Unfortunately, at this moment no Armenian can find favorable or adequate psychological atmosphere in Azerbaijan, whereas that is something absolutely necessary. In my opinion, all the participants should be in equal conditions, which is impossible in case of holding the tournament in Azerbaijan. Security guaranties and any kind of additional support cannot be a remedy.
Taking into account the above-mentioned considerations, I inform you that I would be delighted to take part in Candidates Tournament any other country, but my participation in the candidates tournament in Azerbaijan has to be excluded.
I hope you will take into account these considerations while discussing the issue of the tournament venue at the Presidential Board Meeting.
Thank you in advance and best regards,
GM Levon Aronian

Gibraltar LIVE!

2012-02-02T04:00:00.000-06:00

The Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012 will be live daily on Chessdom.com with analysis by the Houdini 2.0 engine. Games start at 14:00 CET.

All news about Gibraltar Chess Festival here

Full participants list at this link

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Girl Power!

2012-02-02T03:11:00.001-06:00

2012 TRADEWISE GIBRALTARCHESS FESTIVAL
Monday 23 January - Thursday 2 February 2012

PRESS RELEASE - 26 2, February 2012

GIRL POWER!

Round 9 Report 1 February 2012 by Stewart Reuben

17 year-old Chinese Women’s World Champion is assured of the top Woman’s Award of £10,000, irrespective of what happens in the last round. She is also lone leader on 7½/9. She is also assured of some sort of open prize. There is also the U18 prize. That’s what you get when you win against three 2700+ players in three consecutive rounds.

Masters Round 9

GM Almasi Zoltan 2717 6 ½ 6½ GM Adams Michael 2724
GM Shirov Alexei 2710 6 0-1 6½ GM Hou Yifan 2605
GM Svidler Peter 2749 6 ½ 6 GM Negi Parimarjan 2641
GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2747 6 1-0 6 GM Akobian Varuzhan 2617
GM Howell David W L 2603 6 ½ 6 GM Movsesian Sergei 2700
GM Rapport Richard 2543 6 0-1 6 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2700
GM Gopal G N 2566 6 0-1 6 GM Bologan Viktor 2680
GM Salem A R Saleh 2505 6 0-1 6 GM Short Nigel D 2677

Once again it was quite impossible for Simon Williams to keep up with the moves in all the leading games. There was simply too much going on. But of course chess has the advantage that the games can be played through for all time, not just the moment.

Zoltan Almasi HUN v Michael Adams ENG

Although this was a very long game, it was by no means boring. The endgame was fascinating. It was said that Zoltan was very upset when he only drew.

Alexei Shirov LAT v Hou Yifan CHN

They played that most uncompromising of openings, the Poison Pawn variation in the Sicilian Najdorf. One might think that, after all these years, everything is understood about this ferociously complex tactical variation. With the growth of computer chess that is far from true. Using computers has changed people’s conception of what positions are defensible. Thus players are stronger. That is one reason so many people are rated over 2700, not inflation in the numbers.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6 11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.e6 Bxe6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Be2

(One would think 16 Bd3 is more natural, so that Bg6ch would tie the g7 pawn down. Another alternative is Rxb7.) 16...Be7 (16...b5 prevents Rxb7, but neglects Black's development.) 17.Bh5+ Kd8 18.Bxe7+ Qxe7 19.0–0 Nd7 (19...b5 is possible. But Nc6 probably runs foul of 20 c4.) 20.Rxb7 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Rb8 22.Rxb8+ Nxb8 (That Black's king is in the centre is adequate compensation for a mere pawn.) 23.Qe2 (23 Qe1 Rf8 is an alternative.) 23...Qb5 24.Qxb5 axb5 25.Rf7 Nc6 (25...g5 Rb7 also leads to equal material.) 26.Rxg7 Rf8 27.Kg1 Nb4 28.Rb7 Nxc2 (28...Nxa2 is also possible, but then Black won't have two connected passed pawns.) 29.Rxb5 Ke7 30.a4 Ra8 31.Rb2 Ne3 32.Kf2 Nc4 33.Rb7+ Kd6 34.Bd1 e5 35.Rh7 Nb2 36.Rxh6+ Kc5 37.Bc2 Nxa4

(It is true a bishop is better than a knight in the endgame. But Black's pawns are further advanced and she exerts greater control of the centre.) 38.h4 Nc3 39.Bf5 Ra2+ 40.Kf1 Ra1+ 41.Kf2 Ra2+ 42.Kf1 Nd1 43.g4 Ne3+ 44.Ke1 Kd4 45.Bc8 Ng2+ 46.Kd1 e4 47.h5 e3 48.Ba6 Nf4 49.Rb6 Nd3 50.Bxd3 Kxd3 51.Rb3+ Ke4 52.h6 d4 53.h7 Rh2 White's position is hopeless.) 0–1

Peter Svidler RUS v Parimarjan Negi IND

White never generated enough energy from the opening to warrant playing on.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE v Varuzhan Akobian USA

Another 100+ move game. White always had a small edge and it is more difficult to defend than attack. Whether black could have held the queen and pawn endgame I don’t know.

David Howell ENG v Sergei Movsesian CZE

White had a very promising position. First he had an initiative on the kingside and then play against Black’s weakened queenside. But it all came to nothing due to the Czech’s tenacious defence.

Richard Rapport HUN v Krishnan Sasikiran IND

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d4 e6 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e3 c5 8.Bb5+ Bc6 9.Bd3 cxd4 10.exd4 Nd7 11.0–0 Be7 12.Re1 0–0 13.Ne4 Rc8 14.h4(All very romantic, 14...Bxh4 15 Nxh5 Qxh4 16 Bg5 wins the queen. But perhaps 14 Bg5 eliminating the black-squared bishops was better.) 14...Bb7 15.Bb1 Qc7 16.Bd2 N5f6 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Be3 Rfd8 19.Ng5 h6 20.Bh7+ Kf8 21.Nh3 Ne5 (21...Qc6 is better. 22 Bf4 would have given White the better game for the first time.) 22.Rc1 Nc4 23.Bd2 (Probably 23 b3 was best. But Black would still have pressure against the weak d4 pawn.) 23...Rxd4 24.Bb4+ Ke8 25.Qe2 Qd7 26.b3 Ne5 27.Rxc8+ Qxc8 28.f4 Nd7 29.Bg6 Nc5 30.Bh5 Re4 31.Qb5+ Bc6 32.Qf1 Rxe1 33.Qxe1 Nd3 34.Qb1 Qd7 35.Kh2 Nxb4 36.Qh7 Nd5 0–1

G N Gopal IND v Viktor Bologan MDA

The young Indian was uncharacteristically cavalier with his pieces.

Saleh Salem UAE v Nigel Short ENG

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Nge2 d6 6.a3 Ba5 7.g3 0–0 8.Bg2 Nc6 9.0–0 Rb8 10.b3 a6 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.Qxd8 Nxd8 13.Rb1 Bc7 14.b4 Nd7 15.Ne4 b6 16.f4 f5 17.N4c3 Nf7 18.e4 Nd6 19.exf5 Rxf5 20.g4 Rf8 21.f5 Nxc4 22.Nf4 Be5 23.fxe6

(White will emerge a pawn down. 23 Nce2 was more circumspect.) 23...Bxc3 24.exd7 Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Bxd7 26.bxc5 Bxc5 27.Bd5+ Kh8 28.Rb3 (28 Bxc4 fails to Rxf4 with the threat of mate.) 28...Ne5 29.Bb2 Rbe8 30.Rh3 Bxg4 31.Rh4 Bf5 32.Rh5 Ng6 33.Rg5 Bd3 34.Rg4 Rxf4 35.Rfxf4 Re1+ 36.Kg2 Nxf4+ 0–1

8th and 9th round of the Schachbundesliga

2012-02-02T03:10:00.000-06:00

8th and 9th round of the Schachbundesliga

The most interesting match of the weekend probably will take place in Berlin, where the host team meets OSG Baden-Baden. After signing a handful of new players - in particular Levon Aronian - Berlin is one of the major surprises in the current season. Join the games via our Liveportal at Saturday to see if the winner of Tata Steel Chess 2012 is playing for his German team.

Playing venue: Town hall Schöneberg, Willy-Brandt-Saal, John-F.-Kennedy-Platz, 10825 Berlin

8th round: Saturday, 4th of February 2012, 2pm
SF Berlin - OSG Baden-Baden
Hamburger SK - SG Trier

9th round: Sunday, 5th of February 2012, 10 am
OSG Baden-Baden - Hamburger SK
SG Trier - SF Berlin

The top match of the weekend takes place in Emsdetten, where Werder Bremen meets Mülheim on Sunday. These are the best teams after Baden-Baden, so expect a bunch of world class players facing each other.

Playing venue: VerbundSparkasse Emsdetten-Ochtrup, Kirchstraße 30-34, 48282 Emsdetten

8th round: Saturday, 4th of February 2012, 2pm
SK Turm Emsdetten - SV Mülheim Nord
Werder Bremen - SF Katernberg

9th round: Sunday, 5th of February 2012, 10 am
SV Mülheim Nord - Werder Bremen
SF Katernberg - SK Turm Emsdetten

In Solingen the host team is odds-on favourite against Wattenscheid and Dortmund. The rest of the teams in this venue is fighting against relegation. In this regard especially the match between Remagen and Dortmund is very crucial.

Playing venue: Stadtsparkasse Solingen, Kölner Str. 72, 42651 Solingen

8th round: Saturday, 4th of February 2012, 2pm
SG Solingen - SV Wattenscheid
SC Remagen - Hansa Dortmund

9th round: Sunday, 5th of February 2012, 10 am
SV Wattenscheid - SC Remagen
Hansa Dortmund - SG Solingen

In Dresden the host team and König Tegel (Berlin) expect their rivals Eppingen and Hockenheim. The last-mentioned are highly-favoured in these matchups.

Playing venue: UKA-Konferenzsaal, Dr. Eberle-Platz 1, 01622 Meißen

8th round: Saturday, 4th of February 2012, 2pm
USV TU Dresden - SC Eppingen
SK König Tegel - SV Hockenheim

9th round: Sunday, 5th of February 2012, 10 am
SC Eppingen - SK König Tegel
SV Hockenheim - USV TU Dresden

Live coverage:

All games of the Schachbundesliga are covered live via our Liveportal. Its possible to follow any game just by one click and all games are analyzed by one of the strongest engines in the world - Houdini 2.0. It´s also possible to download all games by one click.

Standings after seven rounds

Ranking Team Points
1. OSG Baden-Baden 12
2. Werder Bremen 11
3. SG Solingen 11
4. SC Eppingen 11
5. Mülheim Nord 9
6. SF Katernberg 9
7. SF Berlin 8
8. SG Trier 7
9. SV Wattenscheid 7
10. SV 1930 Hockenheim 6
11. SK König Tegel 5
12. USV TU Dresden 4
13. Hamburger SK 4
14. Turm Emsdetten 4
15. SC Hansa Dortmund 3
16. SC Remagen 1

Moscow Chess Tactic

2012-02-02T02:19:00.000-06:00

White to move. How should white proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Can anyone stop Hou Yifan?

2012-02-02T02:09:00.000-06:00

Final round pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	25	GM	Hou Yifan	2605	7½		7	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2747	2
2	14	GM	Bologan Viktor	2680	7		7	GM	Adams Michael	2724	3
3	11	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2700	7		7	GM	Short Nigel D	2677	15
4	10	GM	Movsesian Sergei	2700	6½		6½	GM	Svidler Peter	2749	1
5	21	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2643	6½		6½	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2717	4
6	22	GM	Negi Parimarjan	2641	6½		6½	GM	Le Quang Liem	2714	5
7	23	GM	Erdos Viktor	2634	6½		6½	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2703	9
8	27	GM	Howell David W L	2603	6½		6	GM	Shirov Alexei	2710	7
9	6	GM	Polgar Judit	2710	6		6	GM	Korchnoi Viktor	2558	37
10	8	GM	Laznicka Viktor	2704	6		6	GM	Rapport Richard	2543	39
11	38	GM	Berg Emanuel	2550	6		6	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2699	12
12	41	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2535	6		6	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2683	13
13	16	GM	Fridman Daniel	2660	6		6	GM	Al-Sayed Mohammed	2524	45
14	42	GM	Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G	2531	6		6	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2652	17
15	18	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2650	6		6	GM	Kanep Meelis	2509	48
16	46	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2523	6		6	GM	Iturrizaga Edoardo	2649	19
17	24	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2617	6		6	GM	Cabrera Alexis	2504	52
18	28	GM	David Alberto	2598	6		6	GM	Salem A R Saleh	2505	51
19	30	GM	Brunello Sabino	2581	6		6	GM	El Debs Felipe De Cresce	2497	54
20	56	GM	Cramling Pia	2491	6		6	GM	Kulaots Kaido	2581	31
21	34	GM	Jussupow Artur	2569	6		6	GM	Womacka Mathias	2455	62
22	59	GM	Zhu Chen	2472	6		6	GM	Gopal G N	2566	35

Full final round pairings: http://chess-results.com/tnr63931.aspx

Sevillano Wins 15th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational

2012-02-02T00:52:00.000-06:00

IM Enrico Sevillano Wins 15th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational
Feb 1, 2012

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted an International Master norm round robin tournament on January 25th to 29th 2012.

This tournament is the 15th in its series and was held in Suite C1002 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta.

The participants included: IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), IM Enrico Sevillano (USA), FM Harutyan Akopyan (USA), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), FM Konstantin Kavutskiy (USA), Vadim Kudryavtsev (RUS), Garush Manukyan (ARM), and NM Craig Clawitter (USA).

The tournament was won by IM Enrico Sevillano in a convincing fashion with a score of 7.5-1.5. No norms were achieved.

The only non international master who was able to hold IM Sevillano to a draw, FM Konstantin Kavutskiy, came closest to an IM norm performance with a score of 5.5-3.5. 6.5 was necessary for the norm.

The tournament was a 10 player round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 25th: 7:00 PM, 26th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 27th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 28th: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 29th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM.

The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, Chess.com, MonRoi, LawyerFy, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

The standings can be found on the Metropolitan Chess, Inc. website at: http://metrochessla.com/schedule.php

Leading the pack with one round to go

2012-02-02T00:36:00.000-06:00

Leaders after 9 rounds

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	GM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2605	7.5	2892.0
2	GM	Adams Michael	ENG	2724	7.0	2826.0
3	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	AZE	2747	7.0	2808.0
4	GM	Short Nigel D	ENG	2677	7.0	2807.0
5	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2700	7.0	2776.0
6	GM	Bologan Viktor	MDA	2680	7.0	2740.0
7	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2714	6.5	2744.0
8	GM	Almasi Zoltan	HUN	2717	6.5	2740.0
9	GM	Howell David W L	ENG	2603	6.5	2727.0
10	GM	Movsesian Sergei	ARM	2700	6.5	2707.0
11	GM	Svidler Peter	RUS	2749	6.5	2701.0
12	GM	Negi Parimarjan	IND	2641	6.5	2692.0
13	GM	Erdos Viktor	HUN	2634	6.5	2633.0
14	GM	Sutovsky Emil	ISR	2703	6.5	2624.0
15	GM	Gustafsson Jan	GER	2643	6.5	2618.0
16	GM	Gopal G N	IND	2566	6.0	2669.0
17	GM	Polgar Judit	HUN	2710	6.0	2668.0
18	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	GEO	2535	6.0	2658.0
19	GM	Laznicka Viktor	CZE	2704	6.0	2656.0
20	GM	David Alberto	LUX	2598	6.0	2642.0
21	GM	Shirov Alexei	LAT	2710	6.0	2635.0
	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	ROU	2650	6.0	2635.0
23	GM	Brunello Sabino	ITA	2581	6.0	2633.0
24	GM	Kulaots Kaido	EST	2581	6.0	2619.0
25	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	USA	2617	6.0	2614.0
26	GM	Rapport Richard	HUN	2543	6.0	2605.0
27	GM	Zhu Chen	QAT	2472	6.0	2604.0
28	GM	Fridman Daniel	GER	2660	6.0	2603.0
29	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	FRA	2699	6.0	2601.0
30	GM	Jussupow Artur	GER	2569	6.0	2600.0
31	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2491	6.0	2595.0
32	GM	El Debs Felipe De Cresce	BRA	2497	6.0	2585.0
33	GM	Salem A R Saleh	UAE	2505	6.0	2583.0
34	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2523	6.0	2565.0
35	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	ARM	2683	6.0	2560.0

Full standings: http://chess-results.com/tnr63931.aspx

64 squares and 100X that in laughs

2012-02-02T00:08:00.000-06:00

64 squares and 100X that in laughs from Lisa Suhay on Vimeo.

Mr. Brian was AWOL from chess tonight, so poor Curtis took all the hits and loved every minute of it. From getting the stare-down from a 5-year-old, to trash-talking with the boy Brian challenged last week, it was a fun night at Lamberts Point Community Center. Even Mr. Ronning reversed his position on the fun factor of the game!

Moscow 2012 LIVE

2012-02-02T00:00:00.001-06:00

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Spectacular performance by the young phenom in Gibraltar

2012-02-01T17:08:00.000-06:00

Round by round results

Rd.	Bo.	SNo		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts.	Res.
1	25	93	FM	Schiendorfer Emanuel	2354	SUI	5.0	w 1
2	21	61	IM	Hunt Adam C	2462	ENG	4.5	s 1
3	3	4	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2717	HUN	6.0	w 1
4	1	3	GM	Adams Michael	2724	ENG	6.5	w ½
5	5	11	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2700	IND	6.0	s 0
6	18	57	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2483	UKR	4.5	s 1
7	7	6	GM	Polgar Judit	2710	HUN	5.5	w 1
8	3	5	GM	Le Quang Liem	2714	VIE	5.5	w 1
9	2	7	GM	Shirov Alexei	2710	LAT	6.0	s 1

Going into the final round, Hou Yifan is leading Gibraltar with 7.5 points / 9, with wins over four 2700+ players!

Hou Yifan takes down another 2700, leads Gibraltar

2012-02-01T15:04:00.001-06:00

Round 9 top board results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	4	GM	Almasi Zoltan	2717	6	½ - ½	6½	GM	Adams Michael	2724	3
2	7	GM	Shirov Alexei	2710	6	0 - 1	6½	GM	Hou Yifan	2605	25
3	1	GM	Svidler Peter	2749	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Negi Parimarjan	2641	22
4	2	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	2747	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Akobian Varuzhan	2617	24
5	27	GM	Howell David W L	2603	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Movsesian Sergei	2700	10
6	39	GM	Rapport Richard	2543	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2700	11
7	35	GM	Gopal G N	2566	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Bologan Viktor	2680	14
8	51	GM	Salem A R Saleh	2505	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Short Nigel D	2677	15
9	5	GM	Le Quang Liem	2714	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Muzychuk Anna	2580	32
10	31	GM	Kulaots Kaido	2581	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Polgar Judit	2710	6
11	9	GM	Sutovsky Emil	2703	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Nabaty Tamir	2563	36
12	12	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	2699	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Dzagnidze Nana	2535	41
13	62	GM	Womacka Mathias	2455	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Fridman Daniel	2660	16
14	19	GM	Iturrizaga Edoardo	2649	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Del Rio De Angelis Salvador G	2531	42
15	21	GM	Gustafsson Jan	2643	5½	1 - 0	5½	FM	Kuipers Stefan	2391	84
16	23	GM	Erdos Viktor	2634	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Dvirnyy Daniyyl	2492	55
17	56	GM	Cramling Pia	2491	5½	½ - ½	5½	GM	Brunello Sabino	2581	30
18	29	GM	Koneru Humpy	2589	5	½ - ½	5½	GM	Zhu Chen	2472	59
19	60	IM	Krush Irina	2467	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Laznicka Viktor	2704	8
20	13	GM	Sargissian Gabriel	2683	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Hanley Craig A	2421	72
21	17	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2652	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2454	63
22	64	IM	Molner Mackenzie	2449	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Parligras Mircea-Emilian	2650	18
23	66	IM	Cernousek Lukas	2438	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Fier Alexandr	2603	26
24	68	IM	Lyrberg Patrik	2435	5	0 - 1	5	GM	David Alberto	2598	28
25	71	GM	Bellon Lopez Juan Manuel	2422	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Jussupow Artur	2569	34

Full results here: http://chess-results.com/tnr63931.aspx

World Amateur Chess Championship 2012

2012-02-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

World Amateur Chess Championship 2012

The “Chess Academy of Thessaloniki”, the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Greek Chess Federation have the honour of inviting all national chess federations and eligible players in the FIDE World Amateur Chess Championship 2012 to be held in the 5-star Porto Carras Grand Resort in Halkidiki, Northern Greece from 16 April (1st round) to 22 April (9th round).

The participants shall not have a FIDE title or published FIDE rating above 2000 at the start of the tournament nor had such a rating for at least two years prior to the start of the event. The World Amateur Championship is open to all eligible chess players registered with their federation. FIDE-member federations shall have the right to send as many players as they wish. The World Amateur Women’s Championship shall be held as part of the World Amateur Championship and female contestants will be eligible to win both titles.

Full regulations in English (PDF)

Full regulations in German (PDF)

Full regulations in Russian

Full regulations in Greek (PDF)

Side events

The 4th International Open Chess Tournament “Alexander the Great”, which will be held with open participation and nine (9) rounds Swiss system for players with a FIDE rating of over 2000.

The tournament will be held in the 5-star “Porto Carras Grand Resort” on the seaside of Halkidiki, Northern Greece from 16 April (1st round) to 22 April (9th round) 2012. A limited number of players with a FIDE rating below 2000 may be accepted by the Organising Committee to play in the “Alexander the Great” tournament.

Time control: for each player 90 minutes for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from the 1st move. The FIDE system rules are valid and the tournament will be FIDE rated.

Players with a FIDE rating of 2000 and less can participate in the parallel “World Amateur Championship 2012″ which will also be held the same dates in Porto Carras, in accordance with FIDE regulations.

The 2nd international Youth Chess Open Tournament “Hebe 2012″, which will be held with open participation and seven (7) rounds Swiss system. The tournament will be held in Hotel Porto Carras Grand Resort, Halkidiki from 16 April (1st round) to 22 April 2012 (7th round).

Time control for each player is 90 minutes for the whole of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. The FIDE system rules are valid.

The tournament will be FIDE rated and is for Juniors/Girls U14 (born in 1998 and afterwards) with less than 1500 FIDE Rating.

Turkish Championship

2012-02-01T12:02:00.000-06:00

Dear Friends!

Turkish Chess Championships among women and men is under way in Kemer, Antalya and will continue till 5th of February. The fifth round was a successful day for Turkish youngsters – Vahap Sanal, Batuhan Dastan, Cemil Can and Volkan Sevgi (all members of the National team) defeated rating favourites of their matches. Batuhan Dastan, playing Black, managed to win against defending Turkish Champion GM Emre Can. After the fifth round Solak Dragan, Umut Atakisi, Vahap Sanal and Cemil Can are leading in the championship with 100% result.

In women championship the key game between strongest Turkish players Betul Yildiz and Kubra Ozturk took place in the sixth round. Kubra Ozturk, playing with White pieces, managed to defeat her teammate and took a lead in the event together with ARIĞ BÜŞRA Busra Arig with 5.5 points after 6 games. Betul Yildiz placed third half .

Tournament is organized with help and sponsorship of Turkish Chess Federation, Is Bank and Arzum Company.

Official websites: http://tr2012.tsf.org.tr/
http://kadinlar2012.tsf.org.tr/
Live games: http://tr2012.tsf.org.tr/tr/canli-yayin

Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich

With best wishes, Anastasiya Karlovich
member of press team

Gibraltar LIVE!

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

The Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012 will be live daily on Chessdom.com with analysis by the Houdini 2.0 engine. Games start at 14:00 CET.

All news about Gibraltar Chess Festival here

Full participants list at this link

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Kids friendly chess artwork

2012-02-01T07:42:00.000-06:00

Awesome chess artwork (kids friendly) by Mike Magnan: http://www.magnanschessblog.blogspot.com/

You can even buy his work for your home or chess club. Feel free to check it out.

Is a chess federation relevant?

2012-02-01T07:08:00.002-06:00

Chess, Scrabble Federations Face Sack
01 Feb 2012
By Olawale Ajimotokan

Supervising Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, has canvassed for the streamlining of the national sports associations in order to save costs and make them (federations) to be efficient.

Abdullahi, who is the substantive Minister of Youth Development, made the submission during the public hearing conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Sports when the NSC appeared before it to defend its budget for year 2012.

According to the minister, the current 37-federation structure is superfluous because the country was not in position to competently fund all of them.

He questioned the relevance of federations like Chess and Scrabble, stressing that the National Sports Commission (NSC) can derive comparative advantage by streamlining these federations to a manageable 10 sports associations that can get results for the country.

He said the rest can continue to exist if they can source their own funds instead of depending on government’s subvention.

“We have all kinds of federations that we don’t even know whether they are hobbies or sports. We should be known for something instead of 37 sports federations. Do we need to give funds to sports like Chess, Ludo and Scrabble which are hobbies and not sports? Let’s ask ourselves, as a country though we have potentials for Ayo Olopon (Ayo), what benefit will Nigeria derive in funding it?” Abdullahi queried.

According to him, the Sports Commission has resolved to go into wider consultation and reach a consensus on the sports that Nigeria can focus on because “there is no point spreading resource so thin on every sport because you want to carry everybody along.”

There is always a concern about policy sustainability in Nigeria sports. Even as the Minister is proposing to streamline these federations, a new administration may step in later to reverse such decision.

But despite such concern, the Minister said the NSC is bound to make the streamlining policy work, in the sense that if it is successful, which ever new office holder will be proud to associate with it.

Similarly, he described the endless power tussle among factions in Nigerian football as ‘political’, and not legal. He insisted that the NSC will soon bring the warring factions to a round table discussion to talk out their differences.

Two weeks ago, a federal high court of competent jurisdiction, threw Nigerian football into confusion by pronouncing the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and Nigeria Premier League (NPL) as aberration.

Source: http://www.thisdaylive.com

Alexei Shirov shows win over Jussupow

2012-02-01T06:55:00.000-06:00

Alexei Shirov shows win over Jussupow (Gibraltar Chess Festival - Round 8)

Moscow 2012 LIVE

2012-02-01T06:54:00.000-06:00

Live chess broadcast powered by ChessBomb and Chessdom

Master Class - IM Anna Zatonskih

2012-02-01T06:52:00.000-06:00

Master Class - IM Anna Zatonskih

Thrills and spills

2012-02-01T06:44:00.003-06:00

2012 TRADEWISE GIBRALTAR CHESS FESTIVAL

Monday 23 January - Thursday 2 February 2012

PRESS RELEASE 23 - 1 February 2012

THRILLS AND SPILLS

Round 8 Report 31 January 2012 by Stewart Reuben

GM Adams Michael 2724 6 ½ 5½ GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2747
GM Short Nigel D 2677 5½ ½ 5½ GM Almasi Zoltan 2717
GM Hou Yifan 2605 5½ 1-0 5½ GM Le Quang Liem 2714
GM Movsesian Sergei 2700 5½ ½ 5½ GM Gopal G N 2566
GM Negi Parimarjan 2641 5½ ½ 5½ GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2700
GM Dzagnidze Nana 2535 5½ 0-1 5 GM Svidler Peter 2749

Today there were many interesting games, naturally some of them not from the top six games above. It was amazing to see Simon Williams conduct virtually a simultaneous display during the time scrambles, flitting rapidly from one game to another. There were 2700+ GMs on each of the first 9 boards, with two being paired together on board 1.

Michael Adams ENG v Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE

This came down to a bishops of opposite colour endgame with Michael having an outside passed pawn. We had visions of history repeating itself as he won a similar game yesterday after over 100 moves. But it was not to be, Shakhriyar set up an impenetrable barrier by move 42.

Nigel Short ENG v Zoltan Almasi HUN

Nigel didn’t try for much in the opening, starting off with 1 b3 and he didn’t achieve much either. Eventually it came down to yet another bishops of opposite colour endgame that was completely drawn.

Hou Yifan CHN v Liem Le Quang VIE

This started life as a normal Open Sicilian.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.0–0 Be7 9.Kh1 0–0 10.a4 Nc6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Bf3 Na5 13.Bf2 Nd7 14.Qe1 b6 15.e5 (This seems premature, saddling White with weak pawns, one of which dropped off.) 15...Bb7 16.Bg3 dxe5 17.fxe5 Rac8 18.Rd1 Bb4 19.Qf2 Rf8 20.Ne4 Nxe5 21.Bf4 Bxe4 22.Bxe4 Bd6 23.Nf3 f5 24.Bxe5 Bxe5 25.Bd3 Bxb2 (Although Black is two pawns up, White has dynamic counterplay and must, at least, regain one of the pawns.) 26.Rb1 Bc3 27.Ng5 Qe7 28.Qe3 Nc4 29.Bxc4 Rxc4 30.Rxb6 Bd4 31.Qd3 Rxa4 32.Rxe6 Qa3 33.Qe2 h6 34.Rxh6! (The computer didn't see this for some time.) Now the best Black can hope for is a draw.) 34...gxh6 35.Qe6+ Kg7 36.Qd7+ Kg6 37.Ne6 Bc5?? (Ouch. What was he thinking of? 37...Rf7 keeps him in the game.) 38.Qg7+ Kh5 39.Nxf8 Bxf8 40.Qf7+ 1–0

Sergei Movsesian CZE v G N Gopal IND

This was a rather dull draw.

Parimarjan Negi IND v Krishnan Sasikiran IND

This reached yet another bishops of opposite colour endgame. Both players made attempts to win to no avail.

Nana Dzagnidze GEO v Peter Svidler RUS

White’s pawns became very weak and eventually the problems became insurmountable. A nice game by the highest rated player in the tournament which brought him back into contention.

Thus the British Champion Michael Adams and the Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan are tied for first with 6½/8. They met and drew in round 4.

Artur Jussupow GER v Alexei Shirov LAT

We expected Alexei to visit the commentary room after this wonderful win. Thus we got two master classes in quick succession. Artur seemed rejuvenated – he doesn’t play that much competitive chess anymore. A game where it seems a pity there had to be a result. We would have liked it to go on and on. A win for either player would disadvantage the other. Alexei said that, should it win the £1000 Best Game Prize, Artur would deserve a portion.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 0–0 5.c3 d5 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 Re8 8.0–0 e5 (Shirov didn't know the theory and, as a result, got into time trouble.) 9.e4 exd4 10.cxd4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 h6 12.Qb3 Re7 13.Ne5

(After an hour's thought. Alexei suggested this may be a record think for this type of time control where each player has two hours for 40 moves including the 30 second increment.) 13...hxg5 (Black thought for 27 minutes before playing this. 13...Nxe5 14 Nxf6ch Kh8 15 dxe5 hxg5 may be better.) 14.Nxf7 Nc5 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.dxc5 Rxf7 17.Bxg6 Qf8 18.f4! g4 19.f5 (2 Bishops are often a superior force to Rook and 2 pawns. But the position can't be thought of as having been stabilised.) 19...Bd7 20.Rf4 Bc6 21.Kh1 Rd8 22.Rxg4 (The 2 bishops are mighty beasts, even against those 3 passed pawns.) 22...Bd5 23.Qh3 Rg7 24.Bh7+ Kf7 25.Bg6+ Ke7 (Had Alexei played 25...Kg8, White would probably have repeated and been satisfied with a draw. But he wanted more from the game, in order to get back into contention. He didn't want to think for long as that would have given Artur time to think.) 26.Qa3 Kd7 27.Rd1 Kc8 (Our silicon friend suggests 27...Qe7. As Simon pointed out. 'Hasn't Black now castled twice in the same game? Isn't that illegal?') 28.Qxa7 c6 29.Qa8+ Kc7 30.Qa5+ Kb8 31.Ra4 Be5 32.h3 (Possibly 32 Re1.) 32...Kc8 33.Re1 (33 Kg1.) 33...Bxg2+ 34.Kxg2 (Panicking. Kg1 was best and Black still has some work to do.) Qxf5 35.Rg4 Rxg6 36.Qb4 Rd4 0–1

Viktor Laznicka CZE v David Howell ENG

One would have thought David would be shattered today after the bitter disappointment of his loss to Mickey Adams. Instead he gritted his teeth and won against a member of the 2700 club. This will have raised the stock considerably of the young Cardiff University student.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Nbd7 8.e3 Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Rd1 Ne4 11.Qe2 Qb6 12.Nc3 Rfd8 13.Ne1 Nxc3 14.bxc3 Bg6 15.e4 c5 16.Be3 Qa5 17.Nd3 Qxc3 18.dxc5 Rac8 19.Rab1 Nxc5 20.Rbc1 Na4 21.Nf4 Qb4 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Nxg6 hxg6 24.e5 Bc5 25.Bg5 Rd7 26.Qc2 b5 27.h4 a6 28.Bf3 Rd4 29.Qb3 Qa5 30.Kg2 Qb6 31.Rh1 (31 Be3 was probably best of the many choices.) Rb4 32.Qd3 Rb2 33.Kh3 Rxf2 34.Be4 Qc7 35.h5 Qxe5 36.Qd8+ Bf8 37.Rd1 f6 38.Bxg6 fxg5 39.Rd7 Rf3 0–1

Varuzhan Akobian USA v El Debs Felipe De Cresce BRA

The American’s entry for the £1000 Best Game Prize.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 e6 6.e4 Bb4 7.Bxc4 Nxe4 8.0–0 Nf6 9.Qe2 0–0 10.Rd1 Nd5 11.Rd3 Nd7 12.Bg5 f6 13.Bd2 Re8 14.Re1 Nf8 15.h4 Bd7 16.h5 Bd6 17.Ne4 Nf4 18.Bxf4 Bxf4 19.g3 Bc7 20.h6 g6 21.Qd2 f5 22.Qc3 Ba5 23.b4 Bxb4 24.Qxb4 fxe4 25.Rxe4 Re7 26.Qxb7 Qb8 27.Rb3 Qxb7 28.Rxb7 Kf7 29.Ne5+ Ke8 30.Rf4 a5 31.Rb3 g5 32.Rg4 c5 33.dxc5 Bxa4 34.Ra3 Nd7 35.Rxg5 Nxe5 36.Rg8+ Kf7 37.Rxa8 Bc6 38.Rh8 Nxc4 39.Rxh7+ Kg8 40.Rxe7 Nxa3 41.Rxe6 Bd5 42.Rd6 Be4 43.c6 Nb5 44.Rd8+ Kh7 45.c7 1–0

Follow me on Twitter and Facebook

2012-02-01T02:32:00.000-06:00

Chess updates on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SusanPolgar

You can get all the up to date chess daily news and information on facebook by visiting http://www.facebook.com/polgarchess and click the "like" button! You can also click the "like" button above.

Get up to date chess news and information on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SusanPolgar

My first three Facebook accounts are completely full with 5,000 friends each. If you want to add me as friend, please use this account http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002081769502 instead. I cannot accept additional request on my other accounts. Thanks!

More Gibraltar Chess Tactic

2012-02-01T02:13:00.000-06:00

White to move. How should white proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

Interview with GM Dmitry Kokarev

2012-02-01T01:38:00.001-06:00

Interview with GM Dmitry Kokarev

In the stage of the Cup of Russia, which is being held as a part of the RSSU Cup “Moscow Open 2012″, Grandmaster from Penza Dmitry Kokarev is currently one of the pleading players.

Kokarev had won four stages of the Cup of Russia in 2011. Julia Dogodkina interviewed him after one of the rounds.

Q: Dima, last year you have won almost all stages of the Cup of Russia in which you took part in – it is very impressive. Many chess players would like to learn what is your secret?

A: It is the Russian chess school – a good school of the Swiss tournament system. We have many good players at the average level, unlike Europe, and it is necessary to get used to fight them. Now more or less it started to turn out well for me.

Q: You are taking part in our tournament for the third time. You played at the very first Moscow Open. But this event didn’t “obey” you till now…

A: I am now working on this. But it is an extremely strong tournament, in the starting list I am 16th seed. Of course, I would like to win, but objectively it is very difficult. The start was good, and it undoubtedly satisfies me.

Q: Three rounds have passed and in your games there were some bright and interesting moments. What details did you remember, that personally pleased you?

A: The most interesting game was in the 3rd round. Strangely enough, it looked like a dried-up endgame, like it was possible to win only by accident. So many tricks in one game I didn’t see for a long time.

Q: Last year you played a lot in Russia. What is your plan for this year?

A: I will try to play in all tournaments that will take part in Russia. Now we have quite a chess boom in my opinion. Many interesting tournaments, good prize funds, and it is not necessary to go far abroad.