Chess Commander

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

GM Julio Becerra of Miami, a 2-time participant of the SPICE Cup, has confirmed his participation in the 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational. In the 2008 SPICE Cup, GM Becerra finished just 1/2 point behind GMs Harikrishna, Onischuk, Akobian, and Kritz for the title.

The 2010 SPICE Spring Invitational will take place in March (13-19) at the beautiful campus of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. Robert Hess got his 2nd GM norm last year in this event and he went on to become a GM shortly after that, along with a break through year. Who will get the GM norm(s) this year?

Confirmed players so far include:

- IM Gabor Papp (HUN) 2578 USCF - 2547 FIDE (GM norm) - Texas Tech Student
- IM Davorin Kuljasevic (CRO) 2585 USCF - 2544 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Julio Becerra (USA) 2610 USCF - 2538 FIDE (2-time participant of the SPICE Cup)
- GM Ben Finegold (USA) 2616 USCF - 2531 FIDE (earned GM title at 2009 SPICE Cup B group)
- IM Gergely Antal (HUN) 2557 USCF - 2509 FIDE (2 GM norms) - Texas Tech Student
- GM Jesse Kraai (USA) 2550 USCF - 2509 FIDE
- IM Irina Krush (USA) 2492 USCF - 2455 FIDE (GM norm)
- IM Dean Ippolito (USA) 2534 USCF - 2447 FIDE
- FM Eric Hansen (CAN) 2426 USCF - 2406 FIDE

The name of the final player will be confirmed shortly. GM norm is expected to be 6 points (out of 9 games) and IM norm is expected to be 4 points (out of 9 games).

http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/10/major-growth.html

www.SPICE.ttu.edu

History of the World Junior Championships
Report by Chessdom.com

The idea was the brainchild of William Ritson-Morry and he organized the 1951 inaugural event to take place in England. Borislav Ivkov was the first champion. Since then it has been held every two years until 1973, when an annual schedule was adopted. The first tournament was 11-round Swiss, but in subsequent years preliminary tournament have been played with players divided into sections of approximately equal strength. From these preliminaries sections, players qualified for the top, middle and lowest sections i.e. A, B, C and D finals.

In the period 1951-1973 finals were held as Round-Robin tournaments. Since then preliminaries were cancelled and an 13-round Swiss event was adopted.

In 1982, a separate tournament for girls U-20 was organized. The first winner was Agnieszka Brustman of Poland. The first event was also called the World Cup. Since then the World Girls U-20 Championships have been held every year except the 1984 year.

There are many top junior players of all continents are taking part in Championships. Champions under 20: Boris Spassky, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand became World Champions. The World Girls U-20 Champion Zhu Chen became the World Women Champion.

In the 2008 year in Turkey 109 juniors and 67 girls from 50 countries took part. In the 2009 year in Argentina 80 juniors and 45 girls from 61 countries took part. A lot of Polish players took part in most of the Junior and Girls U-20 Championships organized since the 1951 and the 1982 years. They achieved a lot of medals gold, silver and bronze. In the 1997 year the Championship was held in Zagan, Poland with participation of 78 juniors and 61 girls. We expect much more in the 2010 Championship be held from August 2-17 in Chotowa, municipality Czarna, Podkarpacie Region of Poland.

Junior champions

1951 1 ENG Coventry/Birmingham Borislav Ivkov YUG
1953 2 DEN Copenhagen Oscar Panno ARG
1955 3 BEL Antwerp Boris Spassky URS
1957 4 CAN Toronto William Lombardy USA
1959 5 SUI Münchenstein Carlos Bielicki ARG
1961 6 NED The Hague Bruno Parma YUG
1963 7 YUG Vrnjacka Banja Florin Gheorghiu ROU
1965 8 ESP Barcelona Bojan Kurajica YUG
1967 9 ISR Jerusalem Julio Kaplan PRC
1969 10 SWE Stockholm Anatoly Karpov URS
1971 11 GRE Athens Werner Hug SUI
1973 12 ENG Teesside Alexander Beliavsky URS
1974 13 PHI Manila Anthony Miles ENG
1975 14 YUG Tjentiste Valery Chekhov URS
1976 15 NED Groningen Mark Diesen USA
1977 16 AUT Innsbruck Artur Yusupov URS
1978 17 AUT Graz Sergey Dolmatov URS
1979 18 NOR Skien Yasser Seirawan USA
1980 19 GER Dortmund Garry Kasparov URS
1981 20 MEX Mexico City Ognjen Cvitan YUG
1982 21 DEN Copenhagen Andrei Sokolov URS
1983 22 FRA Belfort Kiril Georgiev BUL
1984 23 FIN Kiljava Curt Hansen DEN
1985 24 UAE Sharjah Maxim Dlugy USA
1986 25 NOR Gausdal Walter Arencibia CUB
1987 26 PHI Baguio Viswanathan Anand IND
1988 27 AUS Adelaide Joel Lautier FRA
1989 28 COL Tunja Vasil Spasov BUL
1990 29 CHI Santiago Ilya Gurevich USA
1991 30 ROU Mamaja Vladimir Akopian ARM
1992 31 ARG Buenos Aires Pablo Zarnicki ARG
1993 32 IND Calicut Igor Miladinovic YUG
1994 33 BRA Caioba Helgi Grétarsson ISL
1995 34 GER Halle Roman Slobodjan GER
1996 35 COL Medellín Emil Sutovsky ISR
1997 36 POL Zagan Tal Shaked USA
1998 37 IND Calicut Darmen Sadvakasov KAZ
1999 38 ARM Yerevan Alexander Galkin RUS
2000 39 ARM Yerevan Lázaro Bruzón CUB
2001 40 GRE Athens Peter Acs HUN
2002 41 IND Goa Levon Aronian ARM
2003 42 AZE Nakhchivan Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE
2004 43 IND Kochi Pentala Harikrishna IND
2005 44 TUR Istanbul Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE
2006 45 ARM Yerevan Zaven Andriasian ARM
2007 46 ARM Yerevan Ahmed Adly EGY
2008 47 TUR Gaziantep Abhijeet Gupta IND
2009 48 ARG Puerto Madrin Vachier-Lagrave Maxime FRA
2010 49 POL Chotowa, Czarna

Girls champions

1982 1 YUG Senta Agnieszka Brustman POL
1983 2 MEX Mexico City Fliura Khasanova URS
1985 3 YUG Dobrna Ketevan Arakhamia URS
1986 4 LTU Vilnius Ildiko Madl HUN
1987 5 PHI Baguio Camilla Baginskaite URS
1988 6 AUS Adelaide Alisa Galliamova URS
1989 7 COL Tunja Ketino Kachiani URS
1990 8 CHI Santiago Ketino Kachiani URS
1991 9 ROU Mamaja Natasa Bojkovic YUG
1992 10 ARG Buenos Aires Krystyna Dabrowska POL
1993 11 IND Calicut Nino Khurtsidze GEO
1994 12 BRA Caioba Zhu Chen CHN
1995 13 GER Halle Nino Khurtsidze GEO
1996 14 COL Medellín Zhu Chen CHN
1997 15 POL Zagan Harriet Hunt ENG
1998 16 IND Calicut Hoang Thanh Trang Vietnam
1999 17 ARM Yerevan Maria Kouvatsou Greece
2000 18 ARM Yerevan Xu Yuanyuan China
2001 19 GRE Athens Humpy Koneru India
2002 20 IND Goa Zhao Xue China
2003 21 AZE Nakhchivan Nana Dzagnidze Georgia
2004 22 IND Kochi Ekaterina Korbut Russia
2005 23 TUR Istanbul Elisabeth Pähtz Germany
2006 24 ARM Yerevan Shen Yang China
2007 25 ARM Yerevan Vera Nebolsina Russia
2008 26 TUR Gaziantep Dronavalli Harika IND
2009 27 ARG Puerto Madrin Soumya Swaminathan IND
2010 28 POL Chotowa, Czarna

World Junior Chess Championship 2010
August 2-17 in Chotowa, Poland

The 2010 World Juniors and Girls U-20 Chess Championships will be held from August 2 (arrival day) to 17 (departure day) at Chotowa, Municipality Czarna, close to the city of Tarnow in Poland. The championships will be played in 13 rounds, Swiss System, in accordance with FIDE regulations of July 1, 2009. According to FIDE rules, the rate of play will be 90 minutes for the 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for all remaining moves with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

The total prize fund of the event is over 25 000 eur and entitled to participate are chess players born on and after January 1, 1990. The organizers will provide accommodation for players placed 1-3 in the previous World U-20 Junior and Girls Championships, the COntinental U20 and the European U18 champions, the top six juniors from the FIDE rating list, and one junior and one girl from each federation. Chess players can participate in the championships provided an official application is made by his/her National Federation.

The confirmations of the fee payments to the FIDE and the registration forms shall reach the Organizing Committee by fax or email before June 2, 2010. The National Federations can also announce and register additional players as well as coaches and accompanying persons etc.

Strict 0 default time will be applied at the tournament and a player who arrives at the chessboard after the start of the session shall lose the game.

The final ranking order of the players is determined by the number of points scored.If at the end of the tournament two or more players are tied for the first place, the tie shall be broken according to FIDE regulations D.VI.01.14: a) For Swiss tournaments where the players involved have all played only against rated opponents, after eliminating the lowest rated opponent, find the sum of opponents‘ ratings. The highest total wins. If still tied, eliminate the rating of the next lowest rated opponent(s) until a decision is possible. and b) For other Swiss tournaments, the sum of progressive scores. The highest total wins. If still tied, deduct the first round score, and if necessary the second round and so on.

The village is situated in south-west part of Czarna Comunity. This is a center of weekends rest for the inhabitants of Czarna Community thanks to Holiday andTraining Resort "Grand". The Resort "Grand" is one of organizator of World Juniors and Girls Chess Championship U20 and there it will be place of accomodation for participants.

Official website: http://www.wjcc2010.pl/en

Veselin Topalov top rated at Linares 2010
A lineup of winners awaits him at Torneo de Linares
Report by Chessdom.com

Veselin Topalov, who avoided meeting Anand during Corus, will be the top rated player of Linares 2010.

For the first half of the Linares tournament Topalov will not be able to count on the support of Ivan Cheparinov, who will participate in Aeroflot Open 2010. However, he will be able to consult his new second Leinier Dominguez Perez, who has not received invitation for the Spanish tournament.

The big question here remains, will Topalov aim for the top spot in the Wimbledon of chess for the first time in his career or he will hide preparation for the match with Anand.

In any case it will not be an easy task for the Bulgarian GM, as he will have to face established tournament fighters as FIDE Grand Prix winner Levon Aronian (Armenia), 2009 World Cup winner Boris Gelfand (Israel), Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan), Russian Champion and 2009 Linares winner Alexander Grischuk (Russia), and the local hero Francisco Vallejo. This lineup makes Linares a category 21 tournament.

White to move. How should White proceed?

5rk1/p7/PpRp1npp/3Pp1q1/4P3/5B1P/5QP1/6K1 w - - 0 1

Top 25 final standings:

Rank		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	vict
1	WIM	Paikidze Nazi	2278	GEO	7Ѕ	7
2	IM	Melia Salome	2431	GEO	7Ѕ	6
3	WGM	Kovanova Baira	2384	RUS	7	7
4	GM	Zhao Xue	2504	CHN	7	6
5	IM	Romanko Marina	2433	RUS	7	6
6		Pustovoitova Daria	2319	RUS	7	6
7	WFM	Gunina Valentina	2448	RUS	6Ѕ	6
8	WIM	Tomilova Elena	2290	RUS	6Ѕ	6
9		Drozdova Dina	2170	RUS	6Ѕ	6
10	IM	Paehtz Elisabeth	2484	GER	6Ѕ	5
11	WGM	Munguntuul Batkhuyag	2427	MGL	6Ѕ	5
12	WGM	Girya Olga	2365	RUS	6Ѕ	5
13	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	2315	RUS	6Ѕ	5
14	WIM	Ambartsumova Karina	2297	RUS	6Ѕ	5
15	WIM	Charochkina Daria	2289	RUS	6	6
16	WGM	Grabuzova Tatiana	2345	RUS	6	5
17	WGM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	2372	RUS	6	5
18	WGM	Galojan Lilit	2374	ARM	6	5
19	WFM	Shulakova Svetlana	2164	RUS	6	5
20	WFM	Bezgodova Maria	2137	RUS	6	5
21	WGM	Burtasova Anna	2332	RUS	6	5
22	WIM	Dolgova Olga	2226	RUS	6	5
23	WGM	Demina Julia	2344	RUS	6	5
24	WIM	Strutinskaya Galina N	2281	RUS	6	5
25	WFM	Karibaeva Elvira	2172	RUS	6	5
26	WGM	Ju Wenjun	2512	CHN	6	4

Full standings here.

Sparks of success
Sushma Barvathaya

Children of all age groups, from tiny tots to teenagers, had a field day at Mind Spark— a day long rapid chess tournament held recently at Presidency School, Kelarai. In all 260 players representing 50 schools participated, including many Federation International des Echess (FIDE) rated players.

Smart start

It all began when Derik Pinto, administrator, Derik's Chess School declared ‘Mind Spark' open by making the first chess move that was responded to with a counter move by host school's chess champion Daniel D'Souza.

The tournament under rapid time control and in Swiss league format was conducted in six categories namely under nine, under 12 and under 16 (boys and girls). Each game, held in seven rounds in the Swiss league system with a timing of 20 minutes went on for over six hours across various age groups.

All the games were close with many winning joint spots. Sharada Vidyalaya, Mangalore, were declared the overall champions with seven students of the school bagging prizes.

The schools from the rural belt, Sri Venkatramana School (SVS), Bantwal and Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara (SDM) School, Ujire, won the first and second runners-up with three wins and one first prize, respectively.

Here is the full article.

SL students win medals, trophies at State Team Chess Championships
Mon, Feb 8, 2010

Chess players from Spring Lake schools brought home three trophies and seven medals from the State Team Chess Championships at Michigan State University on Saturday.

In a tie for third place in the grades K-5 section, the Jeffers Elementary School team of John Mark VanDuinen, Caden Ercole, Ben Bouwhuis and Ryan Ross earned a trophy. Bouwhuis won four of his five games to win a silver medal.

More information on this story will be published in today's Tribune.

Source: http://www.grandhaventribune.com

Young Azerbaijani chess player wins contest in US again
Mon 08 February 2010 14:01 GMT

Young Azerbaijani chess player Ayshan Aliyeva has become a winner of one more contest held in US Spokane.

According to News.Az, this time she won the annual Groundhog Gambit contest that involved 96 participants. In five rounds she gained maximally possible number of points and took the first place.

The top three involved US Shay Hutyler and Shea Bryan who gained 4 points each. Earlier, ten-year-old Ayshan Aliyeva won Winterfest.

Ayshan is staying in Pullman for a month while her mother completes work on a Fulbright Fellowship.

Elmir Aliyev
News.Az

I've never heard of this bloke, but GM Konstantin Chernyshov of Russia has just won the Moscow Open. The Asian region, though, can claim their hero in Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem, who finished 3rd on tiebreak. Here's one of Liem's wins, beating the Indian Sasikiran.


Moscow Open 2010 - Section A
Le Quang Liem
Sasikiran, K.
D86

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rb1 Bd7 12. Bd3 Rfd8 13. h3 e6 14. Bg5 Re8 15. Qc1 cxd4 16. cxd4 Qd6 17. Rxb7 Rab8 18. Rxb8 Rxb8 19. Qc5 Qxc5 20. dxc5 h6 21. Be3 Rb2 22. Rd1 Nb4 23. Bc4 Bc6 24. a3 Nc2 25. Rd8+ Kh7 26. Bc1 Rb7 27. Bd3 Ne1 28. Ba6 Rb1 29. Kf1 Nc2 30. Bd3 Bb5 31. c6 Bxd3 32. Rxd3 Rb6 33. c7 Rc6 34. Rd7 Nd4 35. Bf4 Nxe2 36. Kxe2 e5 37. Be3 1-0

42-year-old Konstantin Chernyshov won the strong Moscow Open with 7 out of 9. The Russian GM finished shared first with another 40+ grandmaster, Evgeny Bareev, and both Le Quang Liem and Ernesto Inarkiev also ended on 7 points. Chernishov had the best tiebreak: most wins. The 6th Moscow Open took place ...

Grand Slam dates announced; Masters Final in Shanghai and Bilbao
7 February 2010
Report by Chessvibes.com

This year’s Grand Slam Masters Final will be split into two parts. One will be held in Shanghai, China (just before the Olympiad) and one in Bilbao, Spain (just after). This was announced last week in Wijk aan Zee, were the board of the Grand Slam had a meeting to discuss matters. All dates for the coming year were announced.

Linares: Feb 12-25

In five days from now, the second Grand Slam tournament in 2010 will already start. Linares runs from the 12th till the 25th of February . Like last year it will be a six-player, double round-robin with rest days on February 17th and 22nd. The players are Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Boris Gelfand, Vugar Gashimov, Alexander Grischuk and Francisco Vallejo.

MTel Masters: May 25-June 5

Two weeks after the Anand-Topalov match (April 23rd – May 12th), Sofia will again host the MTel Masters. This year the tournament runs May 25th – June 5th.

Here is the full article.

The school was established in 1923. Today, Texas Tech University has more than 39,000 students and 18,000 faculty / staff from over 100 countries. The main campus in Lubbock, Texas has 30,049 students.

Texas Tech University comprised a vast 1,850 acres, but elegant Spanish Renaissance-style buildings and attractively landscaped grounds give the campus an old-fashion collegial feel. Located in Lubbock, Texas Tech enjoys the area’s High Plains climate and four distinct seasons.

Texas Tech offers students a choice of more than 150 bachelor’s, 100 master’s, and 50 doctoral programs. Faculty members are nationally known for their work in a wide variety of fields. It is the ONLY institution in Texas with a graduate school, a law school, and a medical school in the same location as the main undergraduate campus. Overall, there are 14 colleges at Texas Tech University with 62 academics departments and 198 degree programs.

More than 400 clubs and organizations provide enrichment outside of the classroom.

Texas Tech also many other locations such as San Angelo, El Paso, Spain, and Germany, etc. It is expected to be designated as a tier one university soon.

Gender breakdown:

Undergraduate: Approximately 56% male - 44% female
Graduate & Professional: Approximately 52.5% male - 47.5% female
New Transfer Students: Approximately 57% male - 43% female

Top countries:

1. USA
2. India
3. China
4. Mexico
5. South Korea
6. Canada
7. Taiwan
8. Nigeria
9. Turkey
10. Nepal

SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) was established in 2007. It is the only established university chess institute in the United States and possibly in the world. The goal of SPICE is to work with our friends and colleagues to enhance chess, education, technology, and research, etc.

Why should a student / chess player come to Texas Tech?

Here are just a few of the many benefits:

1. To receive top notch education.
2. To receive world class intense chess training.
3. To have the opportunity to compete in multiple major SPICE chess tournaments (SPICE Cup, SPICE Spring Invitational, Get Smart! Play Chess!, Lubbock Open, and many more) every year.

SPICE is a premier center for chess education, research, technology, and outreach.

The goal of SPICE is to:

- Recruit outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to TTU and TTU-HSC

- Provide a substantial amount of scholarships to chess players

- Be a world leader in promoting women's chess

- Support the nation's most elite chess programs

- Promote chess as vehicle for enriching the education of children

- Serve as a center for chess education and research

- Support and promote competitive chess at the college level

Black to move. How should Black proceed?

6k1/5p1p/p2p1Qp1/1p1P3P/4K1P1/1P2RP2/P1rq2B1/8 b - - 0 1

MSU hosts children's chess tournament
By Lauren McKown
Sunday, February 7, 2010

Elementary and middle school students from across the state took over the Union on Saturday with family, coaches, teachers and chess boards in tow.

Students filled the first floor of the building as early as 7 a.m. with coolers, blankets, pillows and folding chairs in anticipation of the Michigan Scholastic Chess Tournament. Playing with their friends, tournament competitors laughed and chased each other in the hallways and outside. As the tournament commenced, however, the atmosphere upstairs became much more serious.

Cavanaugh Elementary fourth-grader and Lansing resident Tressa Bashore said she sometimes feels nervous before chess matches.

“My palms get sweaty and my head hurts,” Bashore said. “I think of what my dad says, ‘Everything will be okay — try your best and have fun.’”

Bashore is one of more than 550 students who crammed into the Union for the tournament organized by the Michigan Chess Association. The MSU Math Department co-sponsored the event by organizing the location details.

The tournament was run “Swiss Style,” with individual students paired up with other students of similar skill level. Each individual played for a team. Some had private coaches while others came with their school chess teams, said Jennifer Skidmore, vice president and scholastic coordinator for the Michigan Chess Association.

“Chess teaches a variety of skills, including critical thinking, thinking ahead and being patient,” Skidmore said.

Skidmore said 55 school districts from across Michigan brought 129 teams to the tournament.

Here is the full article.

Chinese chess player finishes fourth in "Moscow Open 2010"
English.news.cn 2010-02-08 08:18:42

MOSCOW, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's chess player Zhao Xue finished in fourth place in the women's event of the International Chess Festival "Moscow Open 2010" that ended here on Sunday.

Zhao Xue, who was leading in the tournament for female players with seven points before the final round, was likely to be crowned as long as she drew her rival in Sunday's game.

However, Zhao lost to Georgian player Salome Melia and ranked fourth with six wins, two draws and one loss.

Georgia's Melia and Nazi Paikidze shared the victory by scoring 7.5 points each. Baira Kovanova from Russia won the bronze.

The International Chess Festival, hosted by Russian State Social University for the sixth consecutive year, presented a prize totalling five million rubles (164,635 US dollars).

Some 1,226 players from 30 countries, including 100 masters, participated in the festival that kicked off on Jan. 30.

The "Moscow Open 2010" consists of six tournaments, which are devoted to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War in 1945.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com

Check this action

There were fans and hard-fought games. There was a trip to state on the line. Competitors may have been using their minds, not their muscles, but as one put it, ‘It’s an intense sport.’

By Scott Hammers / The Bulletin
Published: February 07. 2010 4:00AM PST

REDMOND —

Backed up against the lockers in the cafeteria at Redmond High School, the parents who came out to watch their children do battle in an all-Central Oregon chess tournament Saturday made for a somewhat subdued cheering section.

“I’m just glad we can take pictures,” whispered Debbie Taylor, of Bend, straining to catch a glimpse of the board where her son Josh and another boy were playing.

“It’s the quiet sport.”

The tournament for elementary and middle school students drew more than 100 players from about 15 schools. Sponsored by Chess for Success, a Portland nonprofit that calls chess “Athletics for the Mind,” the tournament was a qualifier for the state tournament in Portland in mid-March.

Jeremy Rubenstein, an English teacher who serves as adviser to the Redmond High School chess club and director of the tournament, said there were no true prodigies playing Saturday, and only a handful of kids who could beat a reasonably skilled adult player. However, Rubenstein said he expects the growing number of chess teams in local schools will produce some strong chess players in the near future.

At the beginning of the school year, Chess for Success created chess teams at seven Redmond schools, providing equipment and funding to pay for coaches.

“I normally wouldn’t make a plug, but they are an awesome, awesome organization,” Rubenstein said. “It does not cost our district a cent to run these teams.”

Here is the full article.

Final score: Saints 31 - Colts 17

Congratulations to the Saints and all their fans!

(board color of the Colts and Saints)

Black to move. How should Black proceed?

2k4r/ppp2p2/2b2B2/P6p/6pP/2P1q1bP/1P3N2/3RRQK1 b - - 0 1

This event took place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 7, just before the 9th Aeroflot Open (Feb. 8–19) – which meant that many strong players were in the Russian capital to participate in both tournaments. Four players shared first in the Moscow Open, with 7.0/9 points. The winner was Konstantin Chernyshov on tie-break, with the decisive factor being that he had the most wins. Illustrated report.

Colts vs. Saints in Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida! What is your prediction of the game score?

1st quarter:

Colts 3 - Saints 0

Fun facts: Teams which score first win 28-15 in Super Bowl history.

End of 1st quarter:

Colts 10 - Saints 0

2nd quarter:

Colts 10 - Saints 3

Big play of the game: The Saints went for it on 4th and 1 with less than 2 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter. Colts stopped the run to keep the score at 10-3.

Colts 10 - Saints 6

Half time

Energetic half time performance by The Whoooooooooo (Aren't the Grandpas now?).

3rd quarter:

A stunning play to start out the second half. The Saints tried a shocking onside kick and they recovered the ball on their own 42 yard line.

The gamble paid off. 1st ever touch down for the Saints in the Super Bowl.

Colts 10 - Saints 13

Manning led the Colts to come right back with a TD on their own.

Colts 17 - Saints 13

Field goal by the Saints.

Colts 17 - Saints 16

Colts missed a 51 yard field goal.

4th quarter

The Saints took advantage of this and came right back to score a touch down. They went for 2 point conversion but did not make it.

Colts 17 - Saints 22 (5 minutes 42 seconds)

They are reviewing the play of the 2 point conversion. The on the field call has been reversed.

Colts 17 - Saints 24

Interception Saints for a touch down.

Colts 17 - Saints 31

Great game by the Saints. Final score: Saints 31 - Colts 17

Colts vs. Saints in Super Bowl XLIV. What is your pick?

Which team will win Super Bowl XLIV?
	Indianapolis Colts
	New Orleans Saints
pollcode.com free polls

Final top 50 finishers:

R-k	SN		Name	Rtg	FED	Fide	Pts	vict	BH.	Fide	Nrat Ш	Rtg +/-	W- We	Ra	Rp
1	46	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	2556	RUS	4117328	7	6	46Ѕ	33Ѕ	2506	19,0	1,90	2506	2726
2	17	GM	Bareev Evgeny	2643	RUS	4100140	7	5	52	37	2573	17,0	1,70	2573	2793
3	16	GM	Le Quang Liem	2647	VIE	12401137	7	5	50Ѕ	37	2572	16,2	1,62	2572	2792
4	15	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	2649	RUS	4162722	7	5	49Ѕ	36	2583	17,5	1,75	2583	2803
5	13	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2653	IND	5004985	6Ѕ	5	50Ѕ	35Ѕ	2557	8,7	0,87	2557	2723
6	3	GM	Bologan Viktor	2692	MDA	13900048	6Ѕ	5	50Ѕ	34Ѕ	2578	6,4	0,64	2578	2744
7	20	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	2635	RUS	4158814	6Ѕ	5	48	36	2551	10,2	1,02	2551	2717
8	6	GM	Kurnosov Igor	2668	RUS	4142527	6Ѕ	5	47Ѕ	34	2550	6,3	0,63	2550	2716
9	24	GM	Azarov Sergei	2622	BLR	13501470	6Ѕ	5	47	32Ѕ	2503	5,8	0,58	2503	2669
10	2	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	2697	RUS	4115309	6Ѕ	4	51Ѕ	33	2556	0,1	0,01	2556	2697
11	4	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	2673	CHN	8601445	6Ѕ	4	50Ѕ	34	2557	6,1	0,61	2557	2723
12	32	GM	Belov Vladimir	2595	RUS	4132394	6Ѕ	4	49Ѕ	34Ѕ	2546	14,3	1,43	2546	2712
13	25	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	2621	RUS	4121341	6Ѕ	4	45	32	2468	1,8	0,18	2468	2634
14	19	GM	Savchenko Boris	2638	RUS	4147332	6Ѕ	4	44Ѕ	30Ѕ	2493	2,6	0,26	2493	2659
15	33	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	2591	RUS	4173708	6	6	38Ѕ	25	2409	-5,8	-0,58	2409	2534
16	1	GM	Motylev Alexander	2697	RUS	4121830	6	5	52	33Ѕ	2579	1,0	0,10	2579	2704
17	14	GM	Khismatullin Denis	2651	RUS	4142578	6	5	50Ѕ	32Ѕ	2561	4,2	0,42	2561	2686
18	7	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	2668	BLR	13502956	6	5	47Ѕ	31Ѕ	2549	0,7	0,07	2549	2674
19	23	GM	Volkov Sergey	2623	RUS	4122763	6	5	46Ѕ	29Ѕ	2485	-1,1	-0,11	2485	2610
20	93	IM	Pugachov Alexey	2445	RUS	4115058	6	5	42	27Ѕ	2456	16,6	1,66	2456	2581
21	18	GM	Kazhgaleyev Murtas	2643	KAZ	13700316	6	5	41	26Ѕ	2443	-7,9	-0,79	2443	2568
22	35	IM	Matlakov Maxim	2587	RUS	4168003	6	4	51Ѕ	33	2568	13,0	1,30	2568	2693
23	8	GM	Najer Evgeniy	2665	RUS	4118987	6	4	48	31	2500	-4,4	-0,44	2500	2625
24	21	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	2634	TJK	14700077	6	4	47	32Ѕ	2534	3,4	0,34	2534	2659
25	11	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	2658	RUS	4168119	6	4	43	28Ѕ	2463	-6,7	-0,66	2465	2588
26	9	GM	Vescovi Giovanni	2660	BRA	2100789	6	4	41	27Ѕ	2471	-7,0	-0,70	2471	2596
27	67	IM	Shinkevich Vitaly	2501	RUS	4122690	6	4	39	28	2433	7,1	0,71	2433	2558
28	12	GM	Grachev Boris	2653	RUS	4129199	6	3	51Ѕ	34	2542	1,7	0,17	2542	2667
29	63	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	2513	KAZ	13701703	5Ѕ	5	44	29	2522	11,1	1,11	2522	2602
30	72	GM	Krapivin Alexander	2495	RUS	4154720	5Ѕ	5	44	27Ѕ	2470	7,0	0,70	2470	2550
31	65	GM	Kabanov Nikolai	2510	RUS	4127820	5Ѕ	5	43Ѕ	25Ѕ	2416	-1,0	-0,10	2416	2496
32	91	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	2447	RUS	4162080	5Ѕ	4	48Ѕ	31Ѕ	2562	23,8	2,38	2562	2642
33	36	GM	Miton Kamil	2586	POL	1111914	5Ѕ	4	47	32	2532	3,8	0,38	2532	2612
34	73	GM	Bezgodov Alexei	2490	RUS	4105257	5Ѕ	4	46Ѕ	28Ѕ	2568	19,3	1,93	2568	2648
35	79	IM	Krivoborodov Egor	2471	RUS	4155890	5Ѕ	4	44Ѕ	29	2543	18,8	1,88	2543	2623
36	22	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	2629	MDA	13900200	5Ѕ	4	43Ѕ	29Ѕ	2474	-8,5	-0,85	2474	2554
37	106	IM	Stukopin Andrey	2423	RUS	24107131	5Ѕ	4	43	27	2546	24,5	2,45	2546	2626
38	29	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2610	RUS	4189302	5Ѕ	4	43	26Ѕ	2445	-9,5	-0,95	2445	2525
39	53	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	2539	RUS	4100379	5Ѕ	4	42Ѕ	27Ѕ	2487	3,9	0,39	2487	2567
40	108		Belous Vladimir	2419	RUS	4174003	5Ѕ	4	42Ѕ	23	2466	15,5	1,55	2466	2546
41	44	GM	Shomoev Anton	2559	RUS	4135148	5Ѕ	4	41Ѕ	27Ѕ	2462	-1,7	-0,17	2462	2542
42	71	IM	Ipatov Alexander	2497	ESP	14116731	5Ѕ	3	51Ѕ	30Ѕ	2595	21,8	2,18	2595	2675
43	55	GM	Zinchenko Yaroslav	2538	UKR	14110547	5Ѕ	3	47Ѕ	29Ѕ	2516	7,6	0,76	2516	2596
44	54	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	2538	RUS	4135202	5Ѕ	3	45	29Ѕ	2494	4,7	0,47	2494	2574
45	31	GM	Zhou Weiqi	2600	CHN	8601674	5Ѕ	3	40	23Ѕ	2410	-11,8	-1,18	2410	2490
46	125	IM	Chernobay Artem	2398	RUS	4167406	5Ѕ	2	44	25Ѕ	2554	28,6	2,85	2554	2634
47	52	GM	Zontakh Andrey	2540	UKR	14101130	5Ѕ	2	41	26	2407	-6,1	-0,61	2407	2487
48	70	GM	Ismagambetov Anuar	2497	KAZ	13701525	5	5	46Ѕ	27	2550	11,3	1,13	2550	2593
49	56	GM	Gasanov Eldar	2536	UKR	14104466	5	4	47Ѕ	29	2484	-1,2	-0,12	2484	2527
50	58	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	2535	RUS	4198603	5	4	47	30	2547	7,1	0,71	2547	2590

Full standings here.

Round 9 top board results:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	46	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	6Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	6Ѕ	GM	Le Quang Liem	16
2	13	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	6	Ѕ - Ѕ	6Ѕ	GM	Bareev Evgeny	17
3	15	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	6	1 - 0	6	GM	Volkov Sergey	23
4	32	GM	Belov Vladimir	6	Ѕ - Ѕ	6	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	20
5	3	GM	Bologan Viktor	5Ѕ	1 - 0	6	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	21
6	36	GM	Miton Kamil	5Ѕ	0 - 1	5Ѕ	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	2
7	54	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	5Ѕ	0 - 1	5Ѕ	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	4
8	53	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	5Ѕ	0 - 1	5Ѕ	GM	Kurnosov Igor	6
9	35	IM	Matlakov Maxim	5Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	5Ѕ	GM	Najer Evgeniy	8
10	67	IM	Shinkevich Vitaly	5Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	5Ѕ	GM	Grachev Boris	12
11	19	GM	Savchenko Boris	5Ѕ	1 - 0	5Ѕ	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	63
12	24	GM	Azarov Sergei	5Ѕ	1 - 0	5Ѕ	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	91
13	25	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	5Ѕ	1 - 0	5Ѕ	GM	Krapivin Alexander	72
14	58	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Motylev Alexander	1
15	7	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Gabrielian Artur	60
16	9	GM	Vescovi Giovanni	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Ismagambetov Anuar	70
17	11	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Krylov Mikhail	64
18	66	GM	Shcherbakov Ruslan	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Khismatullin Denis	14
19	76	IM	Kovalenko Igor	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Kazhgaleyev Murtas	18
20	22	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	IM	Ipatov Alexander	71

Click here for full results.

White to move. How should White proceed?

3qkb1r/Q2b1p2/p2pp2p/1p1Np3/2r5/5N2/PPP2PPP/2KRR3 w k - 0 1

Hess - Huschenbeth, 2005

Romanian Chess Championships - Round 7
From 31st January until 7th February in Baile Olanesti, total 185 players
Report by Chessdom.com

The 2010 Romanian Chess Championships for Women and Men are taking place from 31st January until 7th February in Baile Olanesti, under organization by ACS Elisabeta Polihroniade. Women competition is featuring 40 participants, while the men section has 145 players.

After seven rounds, the top of the men's scoreboard is crowded with eight players sharing the first with 5.5 points each. Another twelve are only half a point behind, which makes the fight for the national in the last two rounds title very exciting. In the women's section WGM Elena-Luminita Cosma is holding the lead with 6.0 points, WGM Alina Motoc and WGM Mihaela Sandu are sharing the second on 5.5.
More information on the official website

Round 7 standings (men):

1-8. GM Lupulescu Constantin 2592, IM Nanu Ciprian-Costica 2506, FM Ungureanu Vlad 2316, GM Berescu Alin 2476, IM Miron Lucian-Costin 2478, GM Badea Bela 2487, GM Szabo Gergely-Andras-Gyula 2541 and GM Nevednichy Vladislav 2574 - 5.5

9-20. FM Dobre Claudiu-Cristian 2338, IM Ardelean George-Catalin 2525, GM Manolache Marius 2539, IM Sofronie Iulian 2457, GM Parligras Mircea 2555, FM Dragomirescu Robin-Alexandru 2348, FM Breahna Radu 2288, NM Ciobanu Aurelian 2297, CM Chifor Ovidiu-Emanuel 2247, NM Doros Radu-Marian 2313, NM Nemes Silviu-Virgil 2254 and CM Daianu Cristian-Clement 2290 - 5.0 etc .

Round 7 standings (women):

1. WGM Cosma Elena-Luminita 2332 - 6.0

2-3. WGM Motoc Alina 2349 and WGM Sandu Mihaela 2259 - 5.5

4-6. WIM Dragomirescu Angela 2162, WNM Uta Adeline-Ramona 2057 and WGM Paulet Iozefina 2314 - 5.0

7-10. WGM Foisor Cristina-Adela 2440, WIM Padurariu Ioana-Smaranda 2181, WFM Baciu Anca-Otilia 2163, WIM Bulmaga Irina 2239 and WCM Lolici Iselin-Amanda 1960 - 4.5 etc.

Always ask why
By Errol Tiwari
February 7, 2010 in Features, Sunday

The man who knows how will always have a job. The man who also knows why will always be his boss.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Just so in chess. The game clearly shows us the power of ‘why.’ Kasparov has taught us that every move has a consequence. The player who wins, he argues, is the player who questions his moves consistently.

It is crucial, therefore, that the student of chess understands the ideas behind the openings. Knowing why a bishop is placed on b5 on the White side of the Ruy Lopez if White does not plan to exchange Black’s knight on c6, is a question for us to consider. At the recent Trophy Stall Tournament, national champion Wendell Meusa gained the upper hand against me from as early as move five because I was not familiar with the opening and didn’t understand the ideas behind it. In other words I didn’t understand ‘why.’ Why did he place his bishop on c4 bearing down on the f7 pawn? Soon I was in trouble and the game was technically lost before it was over.

The game against Taffin Khan, however, was different. I knew ‘why.’ As White I knew exactly
where each of my pieces should go for maximum penetration of the enemy camp in the middle game. It is not surprising that White smashed the defences surrounding Black’s king and won handsomely. If I am to refer to Kasparov once more, who incidentally trains Norwegian teenage sensation Magnus Carlsen, this is what he has to say: Before each decision, we should ask, “Why this move? What am I trying to achieve and how does this move help me to achieve it?”

Here is the full article.

Atanas Kolev Wins Bulgarian Open Chess Championship
31st January to 6th February in Plovdiv, 288 participants
Report by Chessdom.com

The 32nd Bulgarian Open Chess Championship, also dedicated to the memory of the late Grandmaster Georgi Tringov, was held from 31st January to 6th February in Plovdiv. 288 players from nine federations took participation, and among them a huge delegation of 42 men from Greece. Eighteen Grandmasters formed a strong field and initiated a fierce battle for the first place.

After the last round draw between Vasil Spasov and Julian Radulski, GM Atanas Kolev seized the opportunity and defeated the last-year winner GM Dejan Antic to share the first place and even take the trophy on the best tiebreak score. Nine players are half a point behind tied on the 4th place.

Final standings:

1-3. GM Kolev Atanas BUL 2571, Spasov Vasil BUL 2587 and GM Radulski Julian BUL 2577 - 7.5

4-12. GM Rusev Krasimir BUL 2547, GM Iotov Valentin BUL 2575, IM Miljkovic Miroslav D SRB 2477, IM Arnaudov G Petar BUL 2413, GM Drasko Milan MNE 2537, GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2561, IM Dimitrov Radoslav BUL 2394, GM Janev Evgeni BUL 2461 and GM Georgiev Vladimir MKD 2583 - 7.0

13-30. IM Petrov Marijan BUL 2500, GM Antic Dejan SRB 2503, GM Vasilev Milen BUL 2466, Krivokapic Marko MNE 2422, IM Dochev Dimitar BUL 2428, IM Kozhuharov Spas BUL 2395, Nadj Hedjesi Balind SRB 2415, IM Marholev Dimitar BUL 2431, Vutov Mario BUL 2331, FM Badev Kiril BUL 2369, Vasilev Vasil Aleksandrov BUL 2358, IM Dimitrov Pavel BUL 2361, IM Stamenkov Vanco MKD 2333, GM Spassov Liuben BUL 2419, IM Pancevski Filip MKD 2428, Livaja Mario SRB 2164, Cappai Davide ITA 2192 and GM Radulov Ivan BUL 2295 - 6.5 etc

Curdo sweeps Fresh Start
CHESS STEPHEN DANN
Sunday, February 7, 2010

John Curdo of Auburn swept the Fresh Start Open, 4-0, at the Greater Worcester Chess Club. Tied for second with 3-1 were Muharrem Brahimaj, Michael Odell and Robert J. King, with class winners Marc Quevillon and Irving Wolfson.

February rated games continue at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays at the Hibernian Cultural Centre, 19 Temple St., Worcester, with rapid play and instruction offered starting at 6 p.m.

Bruce Felton and George Mirijanian, both of Fitchburg, tied for first in the Reggie Boone Memorial, each scoring 4.5-.5, drawing their individual game in the 25-player event. The George O’Rourke Memorial tourney games will begin at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in room C188 of McKay Campus School of Fitchburg State College, 67 Rindge Road, Fitchburg.

Denys Shmelov, 23, of Pepperell topped the Jan. 30-31 34th Queen City Open in Manchester, N.H. More details on this may be found at www.masschess.org.

Grandmaster Boris Gulko of New Jersey won 22 of 24 games in simultaneous play on Jan. 31 in Newton. Alan Safran of Newton won, and Igor Taksir of Wayland drew the two-time U.S. champion who once taught at Harvard University.

Here is the full article.

This year's Grand Slam Masters Final will be split into two parts. One will be held in Shanghai, China (just before the Olympiad) and one in Bilbao, Spain (just after). This was announced last week in Wijk aan Zee, were the board of the Grand Slam had a meeting to ...

Round 8 results:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	16	GM	Le Quang Liem	5Ѕ	1 - 0	6	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	13
2	17	GM	Bareev Evgeny	5Ѕ	1 - 0	5Ѕ	GM	Bologan Viktor	3
3	21	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	5Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	5Ѕ	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	15
4	1	GM	Motylev Alexander	5	0 - 1	5Ѕ	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	46
5	2	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	IM	Matlakov Maxim	35
6	4	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	53
7	6	GM	Kurnosov Igor	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Miton Kamil	36
8	12	GM	Grachev Boris	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	54
9	20	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Gasanov Eldar	56
10	23	GM	Volkov Sergey	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	58
11	63	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Azarov Sergei	24
12	91	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	25
13	71	IM	Ipatov Alexander	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Belov Vladimir	32
14	55	GM	Zinchenko Yaroslav	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	7
15	8	GM	Najer Evgeniy	4Ѕ	1 - 0	4Ѕ	GM	Panarin Mikhail	62
16	60	GM	Gabrielian Artur	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	11
17	65	GM	Kabanov Nikolai	4Ѕ	0 - 1	4Ѕ	GM	Savchenko Boris	19
18	66	GM	Shcherbakov Ruslan	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	29
19	40	GM	Rychagov Andrey	4Ѕ	0 - 1	4Ѕ	IM	Shinkevich Vitaly	67
20	72	GM	Krapivin Alexander	4Ѕ	1 - 0	4Ѕ	GM	Shomoev Anton	44

Full results here.

Every week we present you an endgame study selected by IM Yochanan Afek: player, trainer, endgame study composer and writer. A week later the solution is published. Good luck solving! V. Kalandadze 1962 White to play and win Next week the solution. Solution last week N.Kralin & A. Kuznetsov 1966 new PgnViewer( ...

Finally moved into an apartment this weekend. It's in the neighbourhood of Kichijoji. I'm already liking this place. It has the flavour of Paddington, in Sydney, or St Kilda, in Melbourne. Just like those suburbs Down Under, Kichijoji is hip and happening. My kinda town.

But the best bit, I think, is that there's a local chess club! It's the Musashino Chess Club and I found it thanks to this website (ran by a Japanese bloke with an American accent).

White to move. How should White proceed?

Source: ChessToday.net

He's 13 and ready to enter university
By Amelia Tan
Sun, Feb 07, 2010
The Straits Times

A SINGAPOREAN boy sat for the British equivalent of the GCE A-level examinations last year and aced all his papers - and he was not even 13 yet.

Muhammad Haikal Abdullah Zain, a former student of Rosyth School, scored straight As in Biology, Physics and Chemistry, which he took last November.

He turned 13 a month later and plans to apply to study medicine at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The A-level exams Haikal sat last year carry the same weight as the GCE A levels taken by junior college students here, said the British Council, which administers the exam.

NUS confirmed it would accept students with those qualifications.

...During Haikal's study leave, he also took time off to pursue his other interests such as chess and computer programming. He has won medals at international and national competitions for chess, holds a Grade 8 certificate in violin, and practises taekwondo.

He studied for the exams without any coaching from anyone, said his mother.

Haikal said he has dreamt of studying medicine since he was six and hopes to become a neurologist because 'the brain controls almost all the functions of the body and I think it will be interesting to study how it works'.

Here is the full article.

Chess mates eyeing state tourney
Daniel Flatt
Herald-Citizen Staff Sunday, Feb 07, 2010

COOKEVILLE — Cookeville High School Chess Club members William Earl Pyle and Nayshil Dalal can technically consider themselves as one of the top 32 players in the state. Both qualified for the State Scholastic Individual Chess Tournament to be held Feb. 13. But even with this success, both Pyle and Dalal seem to agree that they merely enjoy their favorite pastime.

“We play it everyday,” William said. “It takes a lot of practice. You have to have a lot of experience, and we have a lot of experience. I think the way you learn is when you lose. And I guess we did (well) because we play everyday.”

The senior member of the team has played since the third grade when his father, John, who serves as the club’s coach, introduced him to the game of strategy. According to his father, William soaked the game right up and has been playing quite well ever since.

“I liked it right off the bat,” William said. “I started getting good in the fourth grade.”

Freshman Dalal started a bit later — the past school year.

“I started playing in eighth grade, I guess,” Dalal said. “I kind of took classes in India, but I wasn’t that good at that time. It was like students come in and they have a class-type thing.”

After the class, Dalal said he enjoyed the game but didn’t have a partner to square off with.

“I kind of liked chess, but I didn’t have anyone to pay with. But then I met (William), and I started playing with him.”

Here is the full article.

Can you name these 3 very strong players?

In the first part Garry talked about his growing up years and his collaboration with Magnus Carlsen. In part 2 he touched on the preparations made for his very first match against Karpov and the recent K-K anniversary exhibition match. In this third part Kasparov answered questions about “making a comeback”, his family, politics and a new variant of Fischer Random chess. Interview.

I have annotated the game Mangion - Carrelli, KCC Championship 2010, where Club President Don Carrelli took down Dr. Ian Mangion in a wild line of the Sveshnikov Sicilian that is supposed to be practically winning for White (see diagram above) but which Carrelli managed to survive and emerge from victorious.  If he wins in the final round of play Thursday, Carrelli would be the first club president to also be club champion.

Photo by Fred Lucas

Champion Anand's mind on Mission Bulgaria
Hari Hara Nandanan, TNN, 7 February 2010, 12:47am IST

CHENNAI: Apples and oranges. This is the latest of Vishy Anand's quotable quotes. The world champion was referring to his performance in the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee in relation to his upcoming World championship match against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in April.

While it was expected that Viswanthan Anand would be doubly cautious about his play in the event, the number of draws he conceded, 11 in 13 games and nine in a row from the start, was quite surprising. But then Anand is adept at explaining the intricacies of the game in his own inimitable way. Even while answering a question on whether he was preoccupied with his match preparations for April while playing in Corus, he sidestepped the issue.

"Playing a tournament especially like Corus that has 13 opponents is a very different experience. You train for different styles and the colours of the draw can have an impact on the way the event goes. In a match, it's only one person. So it's very different," he told the ToI as he took a break from chess and returned to Spain.

Anand's record at Corus is impeccable: he holds the record for most title wins and he enjoys playing there, more because there is an Indian connection. He started slowly against weaker opponents and by the time he entered the second half, it seemed he had forgotten how to win.

"I would have liked to win a few more games in the earlier rounds. Maybe, I could have played a bit differently," explained Anand whose official preparations towards the Topalov match start later this week with his manager-cum-wife Aruna visiting Sofia to inspect the arrangements there.

He could have played differently but then there is no takeback in chess, no revision.

In his own words, he played spoilsport towards the end, pulling down the two GMs in form - Alexei Shirov and Vladimir Kramnik, who both were in the lead when they met the Indian across the table. "I was patient with the long string of draws. The win against Shirov was tense and the game went back and forth. My game with Kramnik I was quite happy with."

Vladimir is playing exceptional chess and has shown great results since the match (against Anand). "I was happy with how I played the game. It is very difficult to beat players of his calibre. He is one of the most well prepared players in the game," Anand explained.

Here is the full article.

ON CHESS
Mother Polgar back at the board
Saturday, February 6, 2010 3:14 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN

Women can face special obstacles in maintaining a professional chess career, as is vividly illustrated in the changing fortunes of 33-year-old Judit Polgar, the world's top female player.

In 2003, Polgar reached a pinnacle at the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Undefeated, she finished in second place, a point ahead of world champion Vladimir Kramnik and a half-point behind tournament winner and future world champion Viswanathan Anand.

With the birth of son Oliver in 2004 and daughter Hanna in 2006, her chess activity plummeted, as did her international rating. Today, she is ranked 48th in the world -- a far cry from 2003, when she was 11th, and earlier years, when she was among the top seven or eight grandmasters.

But she is back with renewed focus and energy. The reason is compelling:

"I cannot live without chess," she said on Chessdom.com. "It is an integral part of my life. I enjoy the game.

"When my son was born, it was clear that children are most important. So chess disappeared from my life for some period.

"But I wanted to play again . . . and become the best again. I have a lot of ambitions. (It's) just difficult to fulfill them all."

Source: http://www.dispatch.com

Mickey Adams won the 8th Gibtelecom Chess Festival by winning the playoff. 9 players are tied for with 7.5 points.

Rk	Name		Score	Fed.	M/F	Rating	TPR	W-We
1	GM Gustafsson, Jan		7.5	GER	M	2627	2769	+1.88
2	GM Adams, Michael		7.5	ENG	M	2694	2764	+0.97
3	GM Vallejo Pons, Francisco		7.5	ESP	M	2705	2726	+0.33
4	GM Sandipan, Chanda		7.5	IND	M	2622	2720	+1.29
5	GM Kamsky, Gata		7.5	USA	M	2693	2719	+0.38
6	GM Bacrot, Etienne		7.5	FRA	M	2713	2713	+0.11
7	GM Movsesian, Sergei		7.5	SVK	M	2708	2708	+0.07
8	GM Geetha Narayanan Gopal		7.5	IND	M	2584	2656	+0.95
9	IM Lenderman, Alex		7.5	USA	M	2560	2652	+1.33

Zhukova, Koneru, and Stephanova all had fantastic results. Here are the top 5 finishing women in Gibraltar. In fact, Zhukova is inching closer to 2500 by gaining over 30 rating points. She will become a GM when she can reach this mark.

10	WGM Zhukova, Natalia		7.0	UKR	F	2462	2686	+3.02
12	GM Koneru, Humpy		7.0	IND	F	2614	2663	+0.77
21	GM Stefanova, Antoaneta		6.5	BUL	F	2545	2614	+1.00
24	GM Cramling, Pia		6.5	SWE	F	2528	2546	+0.38
27	IM Javakhishvili, Lela		6.5	GEO	F	2493	2535	+0.75

Sasikiran is leading the 2010 Moscow Open with 6 players 1/2 point behind.

It is Saturday Open Forum. The forum is yours. What would you like to discuss?

After 7 rounds, Sasikiran has the sole lead with 6 points, followed by a 6-way tie for 2nd with 5.5.

Leaders after 7:

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Typ	Pts	vict
1	13	GM	K. Sasikiran	2653	IND		6	5
2	46	GM	K. Chernyshov	2556	RUS		5Ѕ	5
3	17	GM	E. Bareev	2643	RUS		5Ѕ	4
4	16	GM	Q. Le	2647	VIE		5Ѕ	4
5	15	GM	E. Inarkiev	2649	RUS		5Ѕ	4
6	3	GM	V. Bologan	2692	MDA		5Ѕ	4
7	21	GM	F. Amonatov	2634	TJK		5Ѕ	4
8	63	GM	R. Khusnutdinov	2513	KAZ		5	5
9	1	GM	A. Motylev	2697	RUS		5	4
10	35	IM	M. Matlakov	2587	RUS		5	4
11	24	GM	S. Azarov	2622	BLR		5	4
12	20	GM	D. Andreikin	2635	RUS		5	4
13	6	GM	I. Kurnosov	2668	RUS		5	4
14	91	FM	A. Reshetnikov	2447	RUS		5	4
15	58	GM	A. Shimanov	2535	RUS	U18	5	4
16	23	GM	S. Volkov	2623	RUS		5	4
17	56	GM	E. Gasanov	2536	UKR		5	4
18	36	GM	K. Miton	2586	POL		5	4
19	53	GM	S. Dvoirys	2539	RUS		5	4
20	4	GM	X. Bu	2673	CHN		5	3
21	12	GM	B. Grachev	2653	RUS		5	3
22	2	GM	S. Rublevsky	2697	RUS		5	3
23	32	GM	V. Belov	2595	RUS		5	3
24	71	IM	A. Ipatov	2497	ESP	U18	5	3
25	25	GM	E. Vorobiov	2621	RUS		5	3
26	54	GM	A. Kharitonov	2538	RUS		5	3

Round 8 top board pairings:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	16	GM	Le Quang Liem	5Ѕ	-	6	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	13
2	17	GM	Bareev Evgeny	5Ѕ	-	5Ѕ	GM	Bologan Viktor	3
3	21	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	5Ѕ	-	5Ѕ	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	15
4	1	GM	Motylev Alexander	5	-	5Ѕ	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	46
5	2	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	5	-	5	IM	Matlakov Maxim	35
6	4	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	5	-	5	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	53
7	6	GM	Kurnosov Igor	5	-	5	GM	Miton Kamil	36
8	12	GM	Grachev Boris	5	-	5	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	54
9	20	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	5	-	5	GM	Gasanov Eldar	56
10	23	GM	Volkov Sergey	5	-	5	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	58
11	63	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	5	-	5	GM	Azarov Sergei	24
12	91	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	5	-	5	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	25
13	71	IM	Ipatov Alexander	5	-	5	GM	Belov Vladimir	32
14	55	GM	Zinchenko Yaroslav	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	7
15	8	GM	Najer Evgeniy	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Panarin Mikhail	62
16	60	GM	Gabrielian Artur	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	11
17	65	GM	Kabanov Nikolai	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Savchenko Boris	19
18	66	GM	Shcherbakov Ruslan	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	29
19	40	GM	Rychagov Andrey	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	IM	Shinkevich Vitaly	67
20	72	GM	Krapivin Alexander	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Shomoev Anton	44

Full pairings here.

2010 Bermuda International Open
Feb 5-7, 2010
Fairmont Southampton Resort

Feb. 5-7 2010 Bermuda International Open
GPP: 60 Bermuda 2010 Bermuda International Open 5SS, 40/2, G/1. FIDE.
Fairmont Southampton Resort & C.C. Feb 4 (Thurs.): Cocktail reception 6:00 followed by 8 pm Blitz tournament.
Rounds: Friday 8pm, Sat./Sun. 9am, 3pm.
Closing party: Sun. 7:30pm Buffet dinner, open bar, free for all players and spouses. Coffee/pastry served during rds. S & S.
Prize fund Gtd. $5000: Open $1000 (plus airfare NEast and hotel room for 2011), $800, $600, $400, $200. U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600 all $250, $150, $100.
Top non-titled also wins airfare from NEast and hotel for 2011. EF: $100, payable on site cash pls.
Free to GMs, IMs, $100 deducted from prize. Sets provided, bring clock.
Fairmont Southampton, (866) 540-4497 "chess rate" $179+tx (reduced from previous $199).
More info contact: nigelfreeman@fide.com or Chief Arbiter carolj1028@yahoo.com. WCL JGP.

Black to move. Is this a draw, win, or loss for Black? How should Black proceed?

2r3k1/p6R/1p2pPp1/nK2P1N1/P4P2/3n1N2/P5r1/7R b - - 0 1

Round 7 top board results:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	13	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	20
2	17	GM	Bareev Evgeny	5	Ѕ - Ѕ	5	GM	Le Quang Liem	16
3	15	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	4Ѕ	1 - 0	5	GM	Kurnosov Igor	6
4	32	GM	Belov Vladimir	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	2
5	3	GM	Bologan Viktor	4Ѕ	1 - 0	4Ѕ	GM	Rychagov Andrey	40
6	36	GM	Miton Kamil	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	4
7	46	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	4Ѕ	1 - 0	4Ѕ	GM	Najer Evgeniy	8
8	56	GM	Gasanov Eldar	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4Ѕ	GM	Grachev Boris	12
9	21	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	4Ѕ	1 - 0	4Ѕ	GM	Gabrielian Artur	60
10	38	GM	Chadaev Nikolai	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Motylev Alexander	1
11	53	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Lastin Alexander	10
12	54	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Khismatullin Denis	14
13	19	GM	Savchenko Boris	4	Ѕ - Ѕ	4	GM	Zinchenko Yaroslav	55
14	58	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	22
15	23	GM	Volkov Sergey	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Krylov Mikhail	64
16	24	GM	Azarov Sergei	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Bezgodov Alexei	73
17	25	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Gerzhoy Leonid	86
18	27	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	4	0 - 1	4	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	91
19	63	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Deviatkin Andrei	30
20	71	IM	Ipatov Alexander	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	33

Here are the full results.

Myers scores win at John Powell Chess Open
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Jamaica Observer

NATIONAL Master Peter Myers started the new chess year with the right moves, when he took the third staging of the NM John Powell Memorial Chess Open at the Campion College Auditorium last weekend.

Myers ended the tournament with five points from six games after securing a good final-round victory over defending champion National Master Brandon Wilson.

Second place went to National Master Geoffrey Byfield, who also finished on five points, but was relegated to second using the tie-break system.

Tournament favourite and Jamaica's number one ranked player, FIDE Master Warren Elliott, who was returning to active chess after a seven-month break, took third place with 4.5 points.

The Intermediate section was won by Campion College first former Andrew Folkes, who took home the first place prize after securing five points from six games. Second place went to Camperdown's Oshane Reid who also ended on five points, but was adjudged second on tie-break.

Third place was shared by five players who ended on 4.5 points each -- Chevian Wilkinson, Paul Richards, Jordan Carty, Jason Lawson and Javado Bryan.

The Amateur Section was won by Ricardo Smith-Stewart who finished perfect with five points from five games. Nine players tied for second with four points each. They are Kriston Kong, Xavier McFarlane, Brandon Freeman, Michael Yapp, Ian Ramsay, David Daniels, Moe Wint, Jordan Treasure and Rebecca Harris.

Next of the Jamaica Chess Federation calendar is the National Junior Chess Championships scheduled to take place in March.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com

Can you name these 4 players? Bonus question: From which event was this picture taken?

Mariano via checkmate
Saturday February 06, 2010

GM Nelson Mariano II, the former Asian Junior champion now based in Singapore, pulled off a big victory off the chess board when he won his defamation case against former employer Power Chess Asia PTE Ltd. and its manager Lee Fon Man.

In a three-page decision, the Singapore court ruled in favor of Mariano, who claimed he had been maligned by Power Chess Asia and Lee, aka Robert Lee and Samuel Lee, from a series of articles, which came out in the internet besmirching his person.

“This is a big victory for me. Finally, I was vindicated. I’ve been wanting to clear my name from all these unfounded allegations,” said Mariano, who opted to work in Singapore after retiring from competitive chess after a runner-up finish in the Asian Zonal 3.2 in Vietnam in 2007.

Mariano, also a joint third placer in the World Juniors in 1994 in Brazil, worked with Power Chess Asia PTE Ltd for one year but the management asked him to sign an addendum, stating that if he quits the company, he cannot work in Singapore in anything related to chess for 36 months, failure of which will have him pay PCA SGD 50,000 (roughly P1.5 million). Mariano resigned and worked for another chess school.

But the PCA accused Mariano of incompetence, an outcast, a thief, a liar and poaching the PCA players to his new chess school. News about Mariano’s ineptitude to coach and conduct chess lessons also circulated in the internet with the PCA also accusing the former Filipino chess prodigy of being a troublemaker, an untrustworthy person with low moral values.

In his affidavit, Mariano said the PCA criticism of his coaching ability didn’t stand up to scrutiny.

He also charged that the PCA tampered with the news articles it had presented.

The court subsequently found all PCA’s allegations untrue and cleared Mariano, currently the coacher-trainer of Chesskidz Singapore, of any wrongdoing.

The court has also directed that PCA and Lee to be investigated to enable it to ascertain how much damages PCA and Lee should pay Mariano.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank the people who stood by me throughout this ordeal, especially my family, National Chess Federation of the Phils. president Butch Pichay, NCFP director Willie Abalos, Muntinlupa City coach Joel Hicap, chess patron Go Teng Kok and the UE Management and late PE Director Bren Perez,” said Mariano.

Source: http://www.tempo.com.ph

It's set in Paris...

By Mal Vincent, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Feb. 6--There is no love in "From Paris With Love." There is, though, a great deal of noise, and there are some very funny scenes of John Travolta's stunt men running about trying to make him look like a combination of Jackie Chan and the pre-governorship Arnold Schwarz-enegger.

...Reece is a lowly assistant to the U.S. ambassador, but he's also a low-level CIA agent who has never before had an action assignment. Although he claims to be from a rough Bronx neighborhood, he has a Cambridge education and is most interested in playing chess.

Source: http://www.californiachronicle.com

When Carlsen lost to Kramnik in round 9, I don't think anyone thought he would fold like a cheap Norwegian yurt, or whatever the Norwegian equivalent of a yurt is called, if Norwegians have indeed produced something akin to a yurt. He struck back immediately, playing the French, the French no less, for the first time in a professional game to beat Karjakin. Then he overpowered Dominguez, who defended well until a single slip put him into a lost endgame. That put Carlsen up to +4, good enough for a tie for first with Kramnik, who survived a fascinating endgame onslaught against Shirov in the 11th round. Shirov, who started the event with an incredible 5/5 score, was knocked off his pedestal by Nakamura in the 8th round. Two rounds later he had the misfortune of pushing Anand to the brink, which had the effect of rousing the world champion from his nine rounds of slumber.

Things got even more intriguing in the 12th round when we wondered if Vishy would again be up for a fight in a world championship rematch with Kramnik. In the previous round Anand had settled for a 15-move draw with black against Smeets, not exactly a sign of life. And when Anand played 1.e4, allowing Kramnik's Petroff, instead of the 1.d4 that brought him the title in 2008, a draw seemed almost preordained. But this same Petroff line, all the way to move 17, brought Kramnik his game one win in the 2004 world championship against Leko. Anand's new idea, 17.Qc1, began a strange queen zigzag: e3, c3, g3, in the next few moves. It netted a pawn, but Kramnik's typical defensive acumen guided him well under pressure until he first slipped with 26..Bc2 and then fell with 27..Nb3. It allowed Anand to sac the exchange for a wonderfully coordinated attack with the two bishops and a passed d-pawn. White's position doesn't look that menacing at first glance, and his knight hangs on h6 for an eternity. But after a long think and a few repetitions Anand went for it and converted confidently. (Apparently Kramnik actually thought it was a three-fold repetition after 33..Kh8, but Anand reminded him that the first time there had been a pawn on f7!)

So the sleeping Indian giant awoke to change the course of the tournament, taking out two leaders, Shirov and then Kramnik. The principal beneficiary of his revival was Carlsen, whose +4 was suddenly good enough for clear first if it held up in the final round. Before round 13 Garry Kasparov was a little nervous for his protege's chances. His own white against Caruana wasn't expected to be a roadblock and Kasparov didn't think Kramnik would do much with white against Karjakin. (For reasons of chess or inclination it wasn't clear, but he did turn out to be correct and the game was drawn in just 21 moves.) But Garry was concerned about Shirov beating Dominguez to get back to +4. In fact they played a fabulous tactical battle ending in a draw. Wonderful stuff from both players. Shirov sacrificed a rook and a piece but Dominguez fended off every threat. One cute detail: 29.Rd7 looks lethal but it loses to the pretty 29..Rf1+ 30.Ka2 Ra1+!! 31.Kxa1 Qxa3+ with mate.

As all the action was going on there, Carlsen managed to get himself into a spot of trouble with Caruana after an unnecessarily adventurous opening in a Spanish. The world #1's piece sac was turned back and he ended up down a pawn in a knight endgame. He narrowly saved the day and the tournament victory after nearly reaching the third time control. Kasparov was delighted, of course, although he said it was something of a shame that Shirov couldn't share the honors. "He played an amazing tournament with several great games," said Kasparov.

Only one game was decisive in the final round and leave it to US champion Hikaru Nakamura to grind out an 80-mover while the janitors are turning out the lights. After a hot start put him in reach of the lead the wind left Nakamura's sails with losses to Karjakin and Kramnik. +1 would have been a good result going in, but after tasting +3 it seemed a little bland. He made it back to +2 with a sitzfleisch endgame win against Tiviakov. An impressive display of technique and tenacity to end a very impressive supertournament debut. The final bishop sac to promote was a fitting finish to a tremendous fighting tournament. Nakamura is set to add a few dozen points on the next list and move into the top 20.

As mentioned, this year's Corus was notable for the amount of hard fighting at the top of the crosstable. Of the ten games between the top five finishers -- Carlsen, Kramnik, Shirov, Anand, Nakamura -- half were decisive. Anand was the only undefeated player. Short was the only player to go winless, an entirely unjust result considering how many interesting games he played and how he had big advantages against Ivanchuk and Kramnik. On the other hand, he should have paid the price for a bad case of Morphyitis in the final round against Smeets. He sacrificed two pieces in a wild romantic flurry and would have been dead lost had Smeets managed to see through the tactical fog and find 10..d6! The computer plays the steel king line 11.Ndf3+ Kg4 12.h3 Kg3 safe! Crazy. As much interest as you can squeeze into a 14-move repetition draw!

Giri won the B, locking it up with a quick draw, and will give the Dutch new hope in the A group next year. Strong play from the teenage Dutch champion. Naiditsch won in the final round to take clear second. In the C, early leader Robson faded badly in the second half and the way was clear for China's Li Chao, who won with an impressive 10/13 score.

Black to move. Is this a win or draw for Black?

8/8/8/2p2k2/3p4/1K1P4/3P2P1/b7 b - - 0 1

FIDE Grand Prix in Astrakhan
Friday, 05 February 2010 11:29

The final FIDE Grand-Prix tournament is set to take place on 9-25th May in Astrakhan, Russia. The event is crucial to determine who will be the second qualifier for the Candidates Matches 2010-2011. Levon Aronian has already qualified and opted not to participate - current standings.

As with the previous Grand Prix stages, the tournament format is round robin with 14 players.

Participants:

Vladimir Akopian (Armenia)
Evgeny Alekseev (Russia)
Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine)
Vugar Gashimov (Azerbaijan)
Boris Gelfand (Israel)
Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia)
Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
Dmitry Jakovenko (Russia)
Peter Leko (Hungary)
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan)
Ruslan Ponomariov (Ukraine)
Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)
Peter Svidler (Russia)
Wang Yue (China)

FIDE Grand Prix index page

Etienne Bacrot and Antoaneta Stefanova currently top players in Rijeka
European Individual Chess Championship
Report by Chessdom.com

We are just a month away from the 11th European Individual Men and Women’s Chess Championship which will be held from 5th to 19th of March 2010 in Rijeka, in the new sports hall "Center Zamet". Even though the registration process is ongoing, it is important to mention that the current number of over 350 competitors is a very good indicator and we can already tell that this Championship will be the strongest ever.

By now, 245 male chess players from 38 federations and 109 female chess players from 29 federations are registered, while amongst the male chess players there is a large number of players with ratings over 2650 points on the official FIDE rankings.

The organizers are expecting more than 200 Grandmasters which will make this Championship historical. Surely, at this time the top stars in Rijeka are Etienne Bacrot from France and ex-world champion Antoaneta Stefanova from Bulgaria.

It is important to mention that from 109 competitors in the women section, 19 of them are in the world’s top 40. This is mostly the result of the highest prize fund ever and the best accommodation conditions which the organizers, Chess club Rijeka and Croatian Chess Federation, prepared for the participants. Just to remind, the total prize fund for men is 120.000,00 EUR and for women 60.000,00 EUR.

Full article on the ECU website

Can you name this strong chess player?

A very original sequence happened in this Sicilian encounter from the recently finished festival in Wijk aan Zee. The black knight is attacked, but onto which square it should go now is only one question (A).
The other interesting issue is: what was actually White's last (and best!) move (B),
as a reaction in turn to which black move (C)?
What do you think, Watson?

The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a  larger version of the diagram.

Round 7 top board pairings:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	13	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	5	-	5	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	20
2	17	GM	Bareev Evgeny	5	-	5	GM	Le Quang Liem	16
3	15	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	4Ѕ	-	5	GM	Kurnosov Igor	6
4	32	GM	Belov Vladimir	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	2
5	3	GM	Bologan Viktor	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Rychagov Andrey	40
6	36	GM	Miton Kamil	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	4
7	46	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Najer Evgeniy	8
8	56	GM	Gasanov Eldar	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Grachev Boris	12
9	21	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	4Ѕ	-	4Ѕ	GM	Gabrielian Artur	60
10	38	GM	Chadaev Nikolai	4	-	4	GM	Motylev Alexander	1
11	53	GM	Dvoirys Semen I	4	-	4	GM	Lastin Alexander	10
12	54	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	4	-	4	GM	Khismatullin Denis	14
13	19	GM	Savchenko Boris	4	-	4	GM	Zinchenko Yaroslav	55
14	58	GM	Shimanov Aleksandr	4	-	4	GM	Iordachescu Viorel	22
15	23	GM	Volkov Sergey	4	-	4	IM	Krylov Mikhail	64
16	24	GM	Azarov Sergei	4	-	4	GM	Bezgodov Alexei	73
17	25	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	4	-	4	IM	Gerzhoy Leonid	86
18	27	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	4	-	4	FM	Reshetnikov Alexey	91
19	63	GM	Khusnutdinov Rustam	4	-	4	GM	Deviatkin Andrei	30
20	71	IM	Ipatov Alexander	4	-	4	GM	Rakhmanov Aleksandr	33

http://www.moscowchessopen.ru/a/result_eng_7.php

Top board round 6 results:

Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	20	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	4Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	4	GM	Bologan Viktor	3
2	1	GM	Motylev Alexander	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Bareev Evgeny	17
3	2	GM	Rublevsky Sergei	4	Ѕ - Ѕ	4	GM	Inarkiev Ernesto	15
4	4	GM	Bu Xiangzhi	4	Ѕ - Ѕ	4	GM	Amonatov Farrukh	21
5	6	GM	Kurnosov Igor	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Matlakov Maxim	35
6	12	GM	Grachev Boris	4	Ѕ - Ѕ	4	GM	Belov Vladimir	32
7	14	GM	Khismatullin Denis	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	13
8	16	GM	Le Quang Liem	4	1 - 0	3Ѕ	GM	Zhigalko Sergei	7
9	8	GM	Najer Evgeniy	3Ѕ	1 - 0	3Ѕ	IM	Kovalenko Igor	76
10	10	GM	Lastin Alexander	3Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	3Ѕ	IM	Ipatov Alexander	71
11	64	IM	Krylov Mikhail	3Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	3Ѕ	GM	Azarov Sergei	24
12	73	GM	Bezgodov Alexei	3Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	3Ѕ	GM	Vorobiov Evgeny E	25
13	79	IM	Krivoborodov Egor	3Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	3Ѕ	GM	Iturrizaga Eduardo	27
14	84	IM	Gochelashvili David	3Ѕ	0 - 1	3Ѕ	GM	Miton Kamil	36
15	40	GM	Rychagov Andrey	3Ѕ	1 - 0	3Ѕ	GM	Kim Alexey	83
16	89	IM	Mozharov Mikhail	3Ѕ	0 - 1	3Ѕ	GM	Chernyshov Konstantin	46
17	86	IM	Gerzhoy Leonid	3Ѕ	Ѕ - Ѕ	3Ѕ	GM	Kharitonov Alexandr	54
18	123	IM	Sergienko Sergey	3Ѕ	0 - 1	3Ѕ	GM	Gasanov Eldar	56
19	60	GM	Gabrielian Artur	3Ѕ	1 - 0	3Ѕ	IM	Stukopin Andrey	106
20	69	GM	Lintchevski Daniil	3	Ѕ - Ѕ	3	GM	Nepomniachtchi Ian	11

Full results here.