White to move. How should White proceed?
Source: ChessToday.net
Monday, July 20, 2009
GM Becerra wins US Class
White: GM Garcia, Gildardo 2482
Black: GM Becerra, Julio 2615
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.d4 Bg4 10.Be3 Na5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Raxd8 13.Nxe5 Bd6 14.Bd4 c5 15.Nxg4 Nxg4 16.h3 cxd4 17.hxg4 Be5 18.Rd1 g6 19.Bd5 dxc3 20.Nxc3 Rc8 21.Rac1 Nc4 22.Bb7 Nxb2 23.Bxc8 Bxc3 24.Rxc3 Nxd1 25.Rc1 b4 26.Bxa6 Ra8 27.Bb7 Ra7 28.Bd5 Nc3 29.Rc2 Kg7 30.Rb2 Kf6 31.Bc4 Ke5 32.Rxb4 Nxa2 33.Bxa2 Rxa2 34.Rb7 Ke6 35.g5 Ra5 36.f4 Ra4 37.Rb6 Ke7 38.f5 Rxe4 39.f6 Kd7 40.Rb7 Ke6 41.g3 Re5 42.Re7 Kf5 43.Rxf7 Kxg5 44.Rxh7 1/2-1/2
Click here to replay the game.
| # | Name | Rtng | Post | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Tot |
| 1 | GM Julio J Becerra | 2615 | 2621 | W6 | W5 | W8 | W4 | D3 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Eric N Cooke | 2241 | 2268 | W15 | L3 | W14 | W8 | W9 | 4.0 |
| 3 | GM Gildardo J Garcia | 2482 | 2481 | W12 | W2 | L4 | W7 | D1 | 3.5 |
| 4 | FM Fabio La Rota | 2285 | 2308 | W16 | W14 | W3 | L1 | D5 | 3.5 |
| 5 | Jeffrey Haskel | 2255 | 2268 | W19 | L1 | W11 | W10 | D4 | 3.5 |
| 6 | Eric Rodriguez | 2302 | 2314 | L1 | W17 | D7 | W13 | W10 | 3.5 |
Full standings here.
Prasad wins 2009 Scottish Open
Final top 15 standings:
| Rank | Name | Score | Fed. | M/F | Rating | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM S. Arun Prasad | 7.5 | IND | M | 2556 | |||||||||||
| 2 | GM Jan Markos | 7.0 | SLO | M | 2555 | |||||||||||
| 3 | GM Mark Hebden | 7.0 | ENG | M | 2468 | |||||||||||
| 4 | GM Magesh Chandran Panchanath | 6.5 | IND | M | 2493 | |||||||||||
| 5 | GM Aaron Summerscale | 6.5 | ENG | M | 2454 | |||||||||||
| 6 | IM Andrew Greet | 6.5 | ENG | M | 2443 | |||||||||||
| 7 | FM Gudmundur Kjartansson | 6.5 | ICE | M | 2356 | |||||||||||
| 8 | FM Iain Gourlay | 6.5 | SCO | M | 2349 | |||||||||||
| 9 | GM Jonathan Rowson | 6.0 | SCO | M | 2591 | |||||||||||
| 10 | GM Paul Motwani | 6.0 | SCO | M | 2503 | |||||||||||
| 11 | GM Colin McNab | 6.0 | SCO | M | 2474 | |||||||||||
| 12 | FM David Eggleston | 6.0 | ENG | M | 2341 | |||||||||||
| 13 | Manfred Herbold | 6.0 | GER | M | 2159 | |||||||||||
| 14 | GM Keti Arakhamia-Grant | 5.5 | SCO | F | 2506 | |||||||||||
| 15 | GM John Shaw | 5.5 | SCO | M | 2462 |
Full standings here.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Breaking News: Big shocker in Canada!
After 8 rounds, 9 players were tied for first. After the smoke is clear, two tied for first. But neither is among the top five seeds at the start of the event.
Final round key results:
GM Alexei Shirov 1/2 GM Eugene Perelshteyn
IM Irina Krush 1/2 GM Michael Adams
IM Edward Porper 1-0 GM Surya Ganguly
FM Theo Hommeles 0-1 GM Mark Bluvshtein
FM Jonathan Tayar 1/2 GM Xue Zhao
Winners: GM Bluvshtein (1st on tiebreaks), IM Porper 7 / 9
Round 9
IM Porper, Edward - 2510 vs. GM Ganguly, Surya - 2637
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Be3 Ng4 10.Bc1 Na6 11.O-O Nc5 12.g3 Nf6 13.Qc2 Qe8 14.Nh4 Bh3 15.Re1 Nfd7 16.Nb5 Na6 17.Bd2 c6 18.Nxd6 Qb8 19.c5 Naxc5 20.Nc4 cxd5 21.exd5 b6 22.Bc3 Nb7 23.b4 Rc8 24.Qb2 Nd6 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Rad1 axb4 27.Bxb4 Nc5 28.Ng2 Bd7 29.Ne3 b5 30.Rc1 f5 31.Red1 f4 32.Bg4 Bxg4 33.Nxg4 Na4 34.Qb3 Qd7 35.d6 Kh7 36.f3 Nb6 37.gxf4 exf4 38.Rxc8 Rxc8 39.Re1 Re8 40.Re7 Rxe7 41.dxe7 Nc4 42.a4 h5 43.Nf2 Bd4 44.axb5 Ne5 45.Bd6 Qh3 46.Bxe5 Bxf2 47.Kxf2 Qxh2 48.Ke1 Qg1 49.Kd2 Qf2 50.Kd1 Qf1 51.Kc2 Qe2 52.Kb1 Qe1 53.Ka2 Qe2 54.Ka3 Qxe5 55.Qf7 Kh6 56.e8Q Qa1 57.Kb4 Qb2 58.Ka5 1-0
Click here to replay the game.
Standings after 8 rounds only as there are still games unfinished:
http://monroi.com/2009-canadian-open-chess-championship-results.html
Former champ defeated reigning champ
Round 1 games:
[White "Morozevich, A."]
[Black "Alekseev, Evgeny"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. cxd5 Ne4 8. Qc2 exd5 9. Bf4 Bf5 10. Qxc7 Qxc7 11. Bxc7 Rc8 12. Bf4 Rc2 13. f3 Nf6 14. g4 Bg6 15. h4 Rxb2 16. h5 Bc2 17. e3 Ba4 18. Rh2 Rb3 19. Ne2 Nbd7 20. g5 Ne8 21. Nc1 Rb6 22. Na2 Nf8 23. Nb4 Rd8 24. h6 Ne6 25. hxg7 Nxf4 26. exf4 Nxg7 27. Bd3 Ne6 28. f5 Nf4 29. f6 h5 30. Kf2 a5 31. Kg3 Ng6 32. Rxh5 axb4 33. Rah1 bxa3 34. Rh7 1-0
Click here tor replay the game.
[White "Gelfand, B."]
[Black "Caruana, F."]
1. c4 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bg5 Qd6 9. f3 Bf5 10. e3 Nbd7 11. Ne2 Rac8 12. b4 Rfe8 13. Bf4 Qe7 14. g4 Be6 15. h4 Nf8 16. h5 h6 17. Ng3 N8h7 18. Qc5 Qd8 19. Qxa7 b6 20. Qa4 Ng5 21. Be2 c5 22. bxc5 bxc5 23. dxc5 Rxc5 24. Bxg5 hxg5 25. Qd4 Rc2 26. h6 Qa5+ 27. Kf2 Rd2 28. Qe5 Nxg4+ 29. fxg4 f6 30. Qd6 d4 31. Qc6 Bd7 32. Qc4+ Be6 33. Qc6 Bf7 34. hxg7 Qe5 1/2-1/2
Click here to replay the game.
[White "Vachier Lagrave, M."]
[Black "Ivanchuk, V."]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. exd5 Qxd5 7. Nb5 Na6 8. c4 Qc6 9. Nf3 b6 10. Be2 Bb7 11. O-O Be7 12. Nbd4 Qc8 13. Qa4+ Nd7 14. Bg5 Nac5 15. Qa3 Nf6 16. b4 Nce4 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. c5 bxc5 19. Bb5+ Ke7 20. Rac1 cxd4 21. Rxc8 Rhxc8 22. Ba6 Rab8 23. b5+ Nd6 24. Bxb7 Rxb7 25. Rd1 Rc3 26. Qa6 Rxb5 27. Qxa7+ Rb7 28. Qa6 Rbc7 29. h3 R7c6 30. Qa7+ Rc7 31. Qa6 R7c6 32. Qa7+ 1/2-1/2
Click here to replay the game.
| Morozevich, Alexander | 1-0 Alekseev, Evgeny | ||||
| Gelfand, Boris | 1/2 Caruana, Fabiano | ||||
| Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 1/2 Ivanchuk, Vassily |
Official website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch
SP National Invitational Updated List
Rules and regulations can be found here. Additional important information can be found here.
Here is the preliminary final list of the confirmed qualifiers. If you confirmed but your name is not on this list, please contact me (SusanPolgar@aol.com) or Mr. Dewain Barber (amchesseq@aol.com) as soon as possible.
State - (C)onfirmed - Name
Alabama C Kelly Chen
Alaska C Hannah Warren
Arizona C Sayaka Foley
N. California C Samyukta Bhat
S. California C Joanne Koong
Colorado C Alexandra Lasley
Connecticut C Alexandra Wiener
Washington D.C. C Jannel Alston
Delaware C Ann Marie Fitch
Florida C Rachel Gita Gologorsky
Georgia C Ananya Roy
Hawaii C Marissa Wai
Idaho C Erica Barkell
Illinois C Victoria Bian
Indiana C Emily Tallo
Iowa Katherine Garvin
Kansas C Hannah Purdy
Kentucky C Caroline Folz
Louisiana C Amelia Wyzywany
Maine C Margaret Bryan
Maryland C Fiona V. Lam
Massachusetts C Michelle Chen
Michigan C Apurva Virkud
Minnesota C Morgan Mahowald
Mississippi C Melanie Newell
Missouri C Margaret Hua
Nevada C Sandra Hernandez
New Hampshire C Jenny Ma
New Mexico C Rebecca Anne DeLand
New York C Linda Diaz
North Carolina C Indira Puri
Ohio C Rebecca Lelko
Oklahoma C Michelle Farell
Oregon C Dana Hannibal
South Carolina C Kristen Snowdeal
Tennessee C Autumn Douthitt
Texas C Courtney Jamison (Defending Champion)
Texas C Julia Jones
Texas C Sadia Qureshi
Vermont C Natalia Lopez
Virginia C Yang Dai
Washington C Alexandra Botez
Wisconsin C Mira Ensley-Field
Wyoming C Sara Locker
Special Invitation C Isabel James (DC)
Special Invitation C Claudia Munoz (TX)
Special Invitation C Brianna Conley (OH)
Special Invitation C Angel Bohannon (TX)
Special Invitation C Nicole Spencer (NC)
Special Invitation C Georgia Olvera (TX)
Special Invitation C Sarah Garza (TX)
Special Invitation C Emily N. Patterson (ID)
Special Invitation C Katie Abderhalden (ID)
AZ SPNOGirls C Diamond Abdus-Shakoor (OH)
AZ SPNOGirls C Kristen Sarna (TX)
AZ SPNOGirls C Aiya Cancio (AZ)
LV SPWOGirls C Emily Nguyen (TX)
LV SPWOGirls C Alisa Chawla (CA)
All Star Team C Epiphany Peters (MI)
The Russian Chess Tradition
Young and Old Ready for Chess in Open Air
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Updated at 19 July 2009
23:57 Moscow Time
By Kevin O’Flynn / The Moscow Times
A small crowd gathered as the sound of a clock being slapped repeatedly rang out in the middle of Chistoprudny Bulvar. Olga Lelikova, 21, was the one doing the slapping as her hand flew back and forth to stop time and move her chess piece at such speed that it gave little time for the audience to see her moves, let alone her opponent.
“I had five seconds to get checkmate,” she said.
The moment she won, she stood up and was soon ready to play the next game.
Not all the games were as dramatic Sunday during “Chess Boulevard,” a chess tournament that takes place every weekend this summer.
Two dozen or so players, children and adults, were hunched in plastic seats in five-minute bursts of concentration. Similar scenes could be seen at Gogolevsky Bulvar and at Patriarch’s Ponds.
The tournament usually consists of seven rounds of five-minute blitz games, with the top ranking players going toward a final on Sept. 6.
The games are not just for the serious chess players, said organizer Alexander Ivanov — you can just join in for a game or two if you want.
The areas also see occasional visits from chess professionals, and a grandmaster took on dozens of opponents simultaneously at Patriarch’s Ponds on Sunday afternoon.
It is not unusual to see chess boards on Moscow’s boulevards, but these are normally commanded by veteran players who are betting for money on a bench — complete with a crowd of hecklers and admirers around them.
Their standard is pretty high, and it was one of these boulevard players who won the tournament last year.
No betting is allowed at “Chess Boulevard,” said Yevgeny Mozolevsky, another organizer of the city-funded event. Somebody did try to bet on a game, he said, but the offending player was told to leave.
Here is the full article.
Simutowe wins ChessCube SA Chess Open
Amon Simutowe wins ChessCube SA Chess Open 2009
Simutowe is the first FIDE Grandmaster in sub-Saharan Africa
Report by Chessdom.com
It was a week of firsts for the 2009 SA Chess Open. Amon Simutowe, a 27 year old Zambian chess player, won the 2009 SA Chess Open on 11 July, and became the first FIDE Grandmaster in sub-Saharan Africa in the same week. The SA Open was also the first FIDE rated tournament to include online matches.
The SA Open 2009, sponsored by ChessCube, was the strongest SA Open ever, with 5 International Masters and 3 Grandmasters competing. For chess players, the tournament also featured FIDE rated online matches with three participants joining in from Australia.
Although Grandmaster Gawain Jones led the tournament for several rounds, playing all of his matches online using ChessCube’s live chess platform, it was the 27 year old Zambian Amon Simutowe who took home the title.
“The SA Open 2009 demonstrated that online matches are viable and such participants will become increasingly common in over the board tournaments,” says Mark Levitt, CEO and founder of ChessCube. “It was very encouraging to see the enthusiastic participation of the players in this chess tournament world first.”
Chess is truly a sport that brings people from around the world together. Grandmaster Simutowe has travelled to over 40 countries playing chess, and the SA Open 2009 saw participants from over 14 countries converge on Cape Town to compete. Although ChessCube is based out of South Africa, it boasts users from over 200 countries. While chess has always enabled top players to travel the world to play matches, the Internet now allows players from anywhere on the globe to play each other online.
All information, results, and standings at the ChessCube blog.
Rapid fire chess tactic
Black to move. How should Black proceed? Can you solve it in 10 seconds or less?
Source: ChessToday.net
9-way tie for the lead at Canadian Open
Full standings here: http://monroi.com/2009-canadian-open-chess-championship-results.html
Standings after 8 rounds:
| # | Name | Rtng | Tot |
| 1 | GM Alexei Shirov | 2748 | 6.5 |
| 2 | GM Michael Adams | 2699 | 6.5 |
| 3 | GM Surya Ganguly | 2637 | 6.5 |
| 4 | GM Mark Bluvshtein | 2598 | 6.5 |
| 5 | GM Eugene Perelshteyn | 2588 | 6.5 |
| 6 | IM Edward Porper | 2510 | 6.5 |
| 7 | IM Irina Krush | 2481 | 6.5 |
| 8 | FM Theo Hommeles | 2412 | 6.5 |
| 9 | FM Jonathan Tayar | 2392 | 6.5 |
| 10 | GM Xue Zhao | 2544 | 6.0 |
| 11 | FM Eric Hansen | 2472 | 6.0 |
| 12 | FM John C Yoos | 2442 | 6.0 |
| 13 | Victor Plotkin | 2310 | 6.0 |
Final round top board matchups:
GM Alexei Shirov - GM Eugene Perelshteyn
IM Irina Krush - GM Michael Adams
IM Edward Porper - GM Surya Ganguly
FM Theo Hommeles - GM Mark Bluvshtein
FM Jonathan Tayar - GM Xue Zhao
Chess is a young man's game
Kramnik wins Dortmund, again
By Jack Peters, International Master
July 19, 2009
Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the elite double round robin in Dortmund, Germany, with an undefeated score of 6 1/2 -3 1/2 . Of course, the former world champion nearly always wins in Dortmund. This is the ninth time in 15 tries he has claimed at least a share of first place in the annual tournament.
Magnus Carlsen (Sweden), Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia) and Peter Leko (Hungary) tied for second place at 5 1/2 -4 1/2 . Etienne Bacrot (France) was fifth at 4-6, followed by Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany) at 3-7. Naiditsch is no pushover. He won the 2005 tournament in a startling upset.
International news
Another former world champion, Anatoly Karpov of Russia, is painfully demonstrating that chess is a young man's game. Karpov, arguably the most successful grandmaster in history, suffered five losses and occupied last place at 1-6 with two games remaining in the 10-player round robin in Donostia, Spain. Karpov faces long odds in making a return to elite competition at age 58. The oldest players who compete regularly at that level are Boris Gelfand, 41, of Israel and Vassily Ivanchuk, 40, of Ukraine.
In contrast, U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura, 21, began with a fantastic 5 1/2 -1 1/2 . Nakamura lacks experience in international events, but this type of performance will make him a desirable invitee to any tournament. He is already an Internet phenomenon at blitz (games of five minutes or less).
Source: LA Times
Competitive chess in Boca Raton
Kings, queens of competitive chess match wits in Boca Raton
By Maria Herrera
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 19, 2009
You could hear a pin drop. Not even the intermittent clicks of chess clocks could break the players' concentration.
"Look how much thinking they're doing," said Rod Miller as he watched his 14-year-old son, Adam, play a chess match. "That's the person you want to be your accountant."
Chess is a game of strategy, and nearly 150 people were registered to compete this weekend at the U.S. Class Chess Championships at the Marriott Boca Raton for a battle of skills. The event attracted players of all ages to compete in the championship, which consisted of five games spread across three days. Today a scholastic competition is scheduled.
Among the players were Grandmaster Julio Becerra of Miami, International Master Blas Lugo and Daniel Ludwig.
"We try to advertise early on when we have these players because we get a lot of participants who would like to play them," said tournament director Franc Guadalupe.
Grandmaster is the highest title the World Chess Federation can give a player. Think Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.
The competition offered a prize fund of up to $10,000 in addition to titles and plaques for every category.
Here is the full article.
So's oversea adventure
Wesley So to compete in big chess tilts abroad
abs-cbnNEWS.com
07/19/2009 12:50 PM
MANILA – Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So, the Filipino chess whiz kid, is set to embark on a series of tournaments abroad.
So, 15, will play in the Zone 3.3 Chess Championships 2009 from July 22 to July 30 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The Bacoor, Cavite native hopes to qualify for the World Chess Cup (World Chess Championships) in Khanty, Mansiyk, Russia from November 20 to December 15.
Other Filipinos entered in the Zone 3.3 Chess Eliminations are GMs Eugene Torre, Darwin Laylo, Mark Paragua, and International Master Richard Bitoon. So far, GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio, Jr. is the lone Filipino qualifier for the World Chess Cup.
So is also set to participate in the Susan Polgar’s Spice Chess Cup Open 2009 (Group A) beginning September 19 at the Texas Tech University, United States. The tournament runs until September 29.
So continues to dominate the national rankings with a record 2646 rating. He is currently ranked 94th overall in the world, based on the July ratings of the World Chess Federation (FIDE).
In addition, So is at the seventh spot among the highest rated juniors in the world.
So is fresh from his stint at the Chinese Chess League 2009 last week where he won his first game against Wang Chen (2400) and drew against Xiu Deshun (2515) in the second round.
The 15-year-old GM raised his total score to 4 points (+3 -1 =2), with an average opponents' rating of 2477. In the past installment of the league, So scored 2.5 points (+2 -1 =1). – Marlon Bernardino
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Teen ready to take on chess world
Teen ready to take on chess world
Santham Pillay
Published: Jul 18, 2009
Durban chess whizz-kid Tasnim Amra is set to employ her best moves at the World Youth Chess Tournament in Turkey in November.
Amra, a 13-year-old Gordon Road Girls’ School pupil, qualified for the international competition by winning the girls’ under-14 category of the African Youth Chess Championship in Cape Town last month.
Amra, a Grade 7 pupil, competed against players from around Africa, earning the title of Woman Fide Master, awarded by the World Chess Federation to players who reach a certain rating in international tournaments. Her passion for the game began in Grade 2 when she had to choose an after-school activity.
After deciding on computers, she was told the club was full and was placed in the chess group. She has not looked back since.
Her parents, Amina, a stay-at-home mom, and optometrist father Mahmood, are “very proud” of their only child and take turns accompanying her to international tournaments, including trips to Georgia, India and Turkey.
Amra said she would practise hard to keep on top of her game ahead of the world tournament.
“I have been practising a lot and working hard. I am going to do my best for my country,” she said.
She said she was most enthusiastic about competing against international opponents.
“I am really excited about the whole trip, but mainly about going and playing against people from all over the world.”
Source: http://www.thetimes.co.za
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Biel round 1 matchups
1st round (July 19th)
Alexander Morozevich (RUS, 2751) - Evgeny Alekseev (RUS, 2714)
Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2755) - Fabiano Caruana (ITA, 2670)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2703) - Vassily Ivanchuk (RUS, 2703)
Official website: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/
Your prediction?
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