With Aronian and Leko both leading by a full point cynics were predicting a quick GM draw. But it turned into a merciless battle with Levon Aronian dominating and eventually crushing Peter Leko after an exchange sacrifice. The Armenian took sole first by a full point and with a 2833 performance. Bacrot, Gelfand and Akopian also won their games. We bring you pictures from the closing ceremony.
FIDE Grand Prix Nalchik 2009 – Schedule and results
Round 1: Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Leko Peter ½-½ Kamsky Gata
Mamedyarov Shak. 0-1 Aronian Levon
Akopian Vladimir ½-½ Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Karjakin Sergey ½-½ Eljanov Pavel
Grischuk Alexander 1-0 Gelfand Boris
Alekseev Evgeny ½-½ Svidler Peter
Ivanchuk Vassily ½-½ Bacrot Etienne
Round 2: Thursday, April 16, 2009
Kamsky Gata ½-½ Bacrot Etienne
Svidler Peter 1-0 Ivanchuk Vassily
Gelfand Boris ½-½ Alekseev Evgeny
Eljanov Pavel ½-½ Grischuk Alexander
Kasimdzhanov Rus. ½-½ Karjakin Sergey
Aronian Levon 1-0- Akopian Vladimir
Leko Peter ½-½ Mamedyarov Shak.
Round 3: Friday, April 17, 2009
Mamedyarov Shak. ½-½ Kamsky Gata
Akopian Vladimir 0-1 Leko Peter
Karjakin Sergey 1-0 Aronian Levon
Grischuk Alexander 1-0 Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Alekseev Evgeny 1-0 Eljanov Pavel
Ivanchuk Vassily ½-½ Gelfand Boris
Bacrot Etienne ½-½ Svidler Peter
Round 4: Saturday, April 18, 2009
Kamsky Gata 1-0 Svidler Peter
Gelfand Boris ½-½ Bacrot Etienne
Eljanov Pavel ½-½ Ivanchuk Vassily
Kasimdzhanov Rus. ½-½ Alekseev Evgeny
Aronian Levon ½-½ Grischuk Alexander
Leko Peter ½-½ Karjakin Sergey
Mamedyarov Shak. ½-½ Akopian Vladimir
Round 5: Sunday, April 19, 2009
Akopian Vladimir 1-0 Kamsky Gata
Karjakin Sergey ½-½ Mamedyarov Shak.
Grischuk Alexander ½-½ Leko Peter
Alekseev Evgeny ½-½ Aronian Levon
Ivanchuk Vassily 0-1 Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Bacrot Etienne ½-½ Eljanov Pavel
Svidler Peter ½-½ Gelfand Boris
Round 6: Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Kamsky Gata ½-½ Gelfand Boris
Eljanov Pavel 0-1 Svidler Peter
Kasimdzhanov Rus. ½-½ Bacrot Etienne
Aronian Levon 1-0 Ivanchuk Vassily
Leko Peter ½-½ Alekseev Evgeny
Mamedyarov Shak. 1-0 Grischuk Alexander
Akopian Vladimir 1-0 Karjakin Sergey
Round 7: Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Karjakin Sergey 1-0 Kamsky Gata
Grischuk Alexander ½-½ Akopian Vladimir
Alekseev Evgeny ½-½ Mamedyarov Shak.
Ivanchuk Vassily ½-½ Leko Peter
Bacrot Etienne ½-½ Aronian Levon
Svidler Peter ½-½ Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Gelfand Boris 0-1 Eljanov Pavel
Round 8: Thursday, April 23, 2009
Kamsky Gata 0-1 Eljanov Pavel
Kasimdzhanov Rus. 0-1 Gelfand Boris
Aronian Levon ½-½ Svidler Peter
Leko Peter ½-½ Bacrot Etienne
Mamedyarov Shak. ½-½ Ivanchuk Vassily
Akopian Vladimir ½-½ Alekseev Evgeny
Karjakin Sergey ½-½ Grischuk Alexander
Round 9: Friday, April 24, 2009
Grischuk Alexander 0-1 Kamsky Gata
Alekseev Evgeny 1-0 Karjakin Sergey
Ivanchuk Vassily ½-½ Akopian Vladimir
Bacrot Etienne 1-0 Mamedyarov Shak.
Svidler Peter ½-½ Leko Peter
Gelfand Boris ½-½ Aronian Levon
Eljanov Pavel ½-½ Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Round 10: Sunday, April 26, 2009
Kamsky Gata ½-½ Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Aronian Levon 1-0 Eljanov Pavel
Leko Peter 1-0 Gelfand Boris
Mamedyarov Shak. 1-0 Svidler Peter
Akopian Vladimir 1-0 Bacrot Etienne
Karjakin Sergey ½-½ Ivanchuk Vassily
Grischuk Alexander 1-0 Alekseev Evgeny
Round 11: Monday, April 27, 2009
Alekseev Evgeny ½-½ Kamsky Gata
Ivanchuk Vassily 1-0 Grischuk Alexander
Bacrot Etienne 1-0 Karjakin Sergey
Svidler Peter ½-½ Akopian Vladimir
Gelfand Boris 1-0 Mamedyarov Shak.
Eljanov Pavel ½-½ Leko Peter
Kasimdzhanov Rus. ½-½ Aronian Levon
Round 12: Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Kamsky Gata ½-½ Aronian Levon
Leko Peter 1-0 Kasimdzhanov Rus.
Mamedyarov Shak. ½-½ Eljanov Pavel
Akopian Vladimir ½-½ Gelfand Boris
Karjakin Sergey 1-0 Svidler Peter
Grischuk Alexander 1-0 Bacrot Etienne
Alekseev Evgeny ½-½ Ivanchuk Vassily
Round 13: Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Ivanchuk Vassily ½-½ Kamsky Gata
Bacrot Etienne 1-0 Alekseev Evgeny
Svidler Peter ½-½ Grischuk Alexander
Gelfand Boris 1-0 Karjakin Sergey
Eljanov Pavel 0-1 Akopian Vladimir
Kasimdzhanov Rus. ½-½ Mamedyarov Shak.
Aronian Levon 1-0 Leko Peter
Monday, May 4, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Linares R1: Anand defeats Radjabov in 61-move struggle
XXVI Linares 2009
This year the Linares 2009 tournament is being staged only in Spain – in the previous three years the first half was in Morelia, Mexico, and next year the first half will probably be in the Arab Emirates. The 2009 event goes from February 1th to March 7th, with three rest days. The prize fund is 314,000 Euros, with the winner getting 100,000 Euros, followed by 75,000 and 50,000 Euros for second and third place. There are no appearance fees for the players, so the motivation to fight for points may be unusually high. The venue is el Teatro Cervantes de Linares, the starting time of the games is 16:00h (4 p.m.) Spanish/European time. The participants are:
Player Nation rating w-rank
Viswanathan Anand India 2791 2
Vassily Ivanchuk Ukraine 2779 3
Magnus Carlsen Norway 2776 4
Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 2761 6
Levon Aronian Armenia 2750 11
Wang Yue China 2739 13
Alexander Grischuk Russia 2733 14
Leinier Dominguez Cuba 2717 23
Average rating: 2755 – Category 21
Round one report
Round 1: Thursday, 19 February 2009
Vishy Anand 1-0 Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Lenier Domínguez ½-½ Alexander Grischuk
Yue Wang ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Games - Report
Official tournament site
This year the Linares 2009 tournament is being staged only in Spain – in the previous three years the first half was in Morelia, Mexico, and next year the first half will probably be in the Arab Emirates. The 2009 event goes from February 1th to March 7th, with three rest days. The prize fund is 314,000 Euros, with the winner getting 100,000 Euros, followed by 75,000 and 50,000 Euros for second and third place. There are no appearance fees for the players, so the motivation to fight for points may be unusually high. The venue is el Teatro Cervantes de Linares, the starting time of the games is 16:00h (4 p.m.) Spanish/European time. The participants are:
Player Nation rating w-rank
Viswanathan Anand India 2791 2
Vassily Ivanchuk Ukraine 2779 3
Magnus Carlsen Norway 2776 4
Teimour Radjabov Azerbaijan 2761 6
Levon Aronian Armenia 2750 11
Wang Yue China 2739 13
Alexander Grischuk Russia 2733 14
Leinier Dominguez Cuba 2717 23
Average rating: 2755 – Category 21
Round one report
Round 1: Thursday, 19 February 2009
Vishy Anand 1-0 Teimour Radjabov
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Lenier Domínguez ½-½ Alexander Grischuk
Yue Wang ½-½ Vassily Ivanchuk
Games - Report
Official tournament site
Sofia R2: Topalov draws first blood, wins with black
18.02.2009 – In a Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence Veselin Topalov surprised his opponent on move five – at least it set Gata Kamsky, USA, thinking for a protracted period of time. Starting around move 15 the Bulgarian took over the initiative and tore into the opponent's defences with super-accurate moves. Thursday is a free day. We bring you game two with annotations by GM Mihail Marin
The Kamsky-Topalov FIDE World Championship Qualifier is taking place from February 16th to 28th in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Match consists of eight games and if necessary tie-breaks. It has a prize find of US $250,000 which will be shared equally by the players. The winner qualifies for a World Championship Match against Viswanathan Anand, scheduled for later this year.
Round two report
Kamsky,G (2725) - Topalov,V (2796) [C65]
World Chess Challenge Sofia BUL (2), 18.02.2009 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5. Experience may have taught Topalov that his peak of form usually arises in the second part of important matches and tournaments. During his unlucky match against Kramnik, he did not seem to take this detail into account and went for sharp and uncompromising fight from the very first game. As a result, he suffered two defeats instead of what could otherwise have become two of his best games ever. His opening choice in the second game against Kamsky looks more cautious. Instead of his beloved Sicilian, he chose the solid Ruy Lopez. Will it be a boring Berlin Variation?! 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5!?
A big surprise on the 4th move already! Topalov had developed the bishop to c5 before, but only as an answer to 4.d3. 5.Nxe5. Kamsky decides to set up forced play from an early stage of the game, instead of the strategically more constructive 5.c3 followed by d4. 5...Nxe4 6.Qe2 Nxe5 7.d4 Qe7. The previous sequence of moves looks completely chaotic, but has been played before. White will retrieve the temporarily sacrificed piece, but he aims to do it in the best form. 8.dxc5. 8.Qxe4 allows Black maintain the material equality with 8...Nc6. 8...Nxc5 9.Nc3
White has excellent compensation for the sacrificed pawn. He is far ahead in development and has an active pair of bishops. The only thing that will not be compensated in any way is the slowness with which Kamsky effectuated his moves and which inevitably led him to a hopeless time-trouble. Until this moment, Topalov had spent only a minute, but after White's last move he started thinking longer. 9...Ng6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Bg5 f6 12.Rae1 Ne6 13.Bd3 0-0 14.Bd2
Over the past few moves, White has considerable activated his pieces. Black mainly relies on his lack of weaknesses, which offers him chances to resist. 14...d5! This is the only move that keeps Black in the game. Since his main problem is the delay in development, he needs to open the h3-c8 immediately. In case of 14...Qf7, aiming to meet f2-f4 with f6-f5, White would consolidate his lead in development with 15.Ne4 when the occupation of the d6-square would leave Black paralyzed after, for instance 15...Ne5 (The exchange of queens with 15...Ngf4 16.Qxf7+ Rxf7 would not bring the desired relief after 17.Bxf4 Nxf4 18.Nd6 Nxd3 19.cxd3 Rf8 20.Re7 and Black is in trouble.) 16.Qh3 Nxd3 17.Nd6! An important intermediate move. 17...Nef4 18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Qg4 followed by Qxf4 with a clear advantage for White. 15.f4 Qc5+! This move repells White's attack and leads to the simplification of the position. At this height of the game, Kamsky had about eight minutes left on his clock. Quite a difficult situation... 16.Kh1?! After this over-cautious move White will find himself struggling. 16.Be3 was necessary, taking the d4-square under control, for instance 16...d4 17.Bxg6 hxg6 (Black should go for the opposite coloured bishops. In case of 17...Qxh5 18.Bxh5 dxe3 19.Rxe3 White retains a small edge.) 18.Qxc5 Nxc5 19.Bxd4 Ne6 . Black should not have problems completing his development and gradually equalizing. 16...d4 17.Bf5
With little time on his clock, Kamsky may have overrated the effects of this move, which threatens to win the queen with Bxe6. 17...Rf7?! This move deserves being criticized only because there was an even better one: 17...Nexf4! 18.Rxf4 (18.Bxf4 allows 18...Qxf5) 18...dxc3 Black will emerge a pawn up, because 19.Be6+? does not work in view of 19...Bxe6 20.Qxc5 cxd2 with a decisive material advantage. 18.Ne4 Qd5 19.Bxg6 hxg6 20.Qxd5 cxd5 21.Nd6
It may seem that White is on the top again. After the "obvious" 21...Re7, defending the knight, White maintains strong initiative with 22.Bb4. 21...Rc7!! A fantastic move, starting a powerful counterplay. 22.c4? This is premature panicking with less than 3 minutes left. He should have accepted the sacrifice with 22.Nxc8 Raxc8 23.Rxe6 , although after 23...Rxc2 Black has sufficient material compensation and strong initiative for the bishop. Another important aspect is that the black king is safer than his colleague. White's position looks dangerous, but he would have remained in the game. 22...dxc3 23.Bxc3 d4
Everything is over now. Kamsky is a clear pawn down and had practically no time left on his clock. 24.Bb4 Bd7 25.Rf2 a5 26.Ba3 b5 27.b3 b4 28.Bb2 Ra6 29.Ne4 Rac6 30.Kg1 Rc2 31.g3 d3 32.Rd1 f5. A tragic game for Kamsky, but quite interesting to follow from the spectators' point of view. 0-1. [Click to replay]
Standings
Nat. Rtng. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tot.
Kamsky, Gata USA 2725 ½ 0 0.5
Topalov, Veselin BUL 2796 ½ 1 1.5
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Schedule
Monday February 16: 18:00h Opening
Tuesday February 17: 15:00h Game 1 Topalov-Kamsky ½-½
Wednesday February 18: 15:00h Game 2 Kamsky-Topalov 0-1
Thursday February 19 Rest day
Friday February 20: 15:00h Game 3
Saturday February 21: 15:00h Game 4
Sunday February 22 Rest day
Monday
February 23: 15:00h Game 5
Tuesday February 24: 15:00h Game 6
Wednesday February 25 Rest day
Thursday February 26: 15:00h Game 7
Friday February 27: 15:00h Game 8
Saturday February 28 Tiebreaks
Official tournament site
The Kamsky-Topalov FIDE World Championship Qualifier is taking place from February 16th to 28th in the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Match consists of eight games and if necessary tie-breaks. It has a prize find of US $250,000 which will be shared equally by the players. The winner qualifies for a World Championship Match against Viswanathan Anand, scheduled for later this year.
Round two report
Kamsky,G (2725) - Topalov,V (2796) [C65]
World Chess Challenge Sofia BUL (2), 18.02.2009 [Mihail Marin]
1.e4 e5. Experience may have taught Topalov that his peak of form usually arises in the second part of important matches and tournaments. During his unlucky match against Kramnik, he did not seem to take this detail into account and went for sharp and uncompromising fight from the very first game. As a result, he suffered two defeats instead of what could otherwise have become two of his best games ever. His opening choice in the second game against Kamsky looks more cautious. Instead of his beloved Sicilian, he chose the solid Ruy Lopez. Will it be a boring Berlin Variation?! 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5!?
A big surprise on the 4th move already! Topalov had developed the bishop to c5 before, but only as an answer to 4.d3. 5.Nxe5. Kamsky decides to set up forced play from an early stage of the game, instead of the strategically more constructive 5.c3 followed by d4. 5...Nxe4 6.Qe2 Nxe5 7.d4 Qe7. The previous sequence of moves looks completely chaotic, but has been played before. White will retrieve the temporarily sacrificed piece, but he aims to do it in the best form. 8.dxc5. 8.Qxe4 allows Black maintain the material equality with 8...Nc6. 8...Nxc5 9.Nc3
White has excellent compensation for the sacrificed pawn. He is far ahead in development and has an active pair of bishops. The only thing that will not be compensated in any way is the slowness with which Kamsky effectuated his moves and which inevitably led him to a hopeless time-trouble. Until this moment, Topalov had spent only a minute, but after White's last move he started thinking longer. 9...Ng6 10.Qh5 c6 11.Bg5 f6 12.Rae1 Ne6 13.Bd3 0-0 14.Bd2
Over the past few moves, White has considerable activated his pieces. Black mainly relies on his lack of weaknesses, which offers him chances to resist. 14...d5! This is the only move that keeps Black in the game. Since his main problem is the delay in development, he needs to open the h3-c8 immediately. In case of 14...Qf7, aiming to meet f2-f4 with f6-f5, White would consolidate his lead in development with 15.Ne4 when the occupation of the d6-square would leave Black paralyzed after, for instance 15...Ne5 (The exchange of queens with 15...Ngf4 16.Qxf7+ Rxf7 would not bring the desired relief after 17.Bxf4 Nxf4 18.Nd6 Nxd3 19.cxd3 Rf8 20.Re7 and Black is in trouble.) 16.Qh3 Nxd3 17.Nd6! An important intermediate move. 17...Nef4 18.Bxf4 Nxf4 19.Qg4 followed by Qxf4 with a clear advantage for White. 15.f4 Qc5+! This move repells White's attack and leads to the simplification of the position. At this height of the game, Kamsky had about eight minutes left on his clock. Quite a difficult situation... 16.Kh1?! After this over-cautious move White will find himself struggling. 16.Be3 was necessary, taking the d4-square under control, for instance 16...d4 17.Bxg6 hxg6 (Black should go for the opposite coloured bishops. In case of 17...Qxh5 18.Bxh5 dxe3 19.Rxe3 White retains a small edge.) 18.Qxc5 Nxc5 19.Bxd4 Ne6 . Black should not have problems completing his development and gradually equalizing. 16...d4 17.Bf5
With little time on his clock, Kamsky may have overrated the effects of this move, which threatens to win the queen with Bxe6. 17...Rf7?! This move deserves being criticized only because there was an even better one: 17...Nexf4! 18.Rxf4 (18.Bxf4 allows 18...Qxf5) 18...dxc3 Black will emerge a pawn up, because 19.Be6+? does not work in view of 19...Bxe6 20.Qxc5 cxd2 with a decisive material advantage. 18.Ne4 Qd5 19.Bxg6 hxg6 20.Qxd5 cxd5 21.Nd6
It may seem that White is on the top again. After the "obvious" 21...Re7, defending the knight, White maintains strong initiative with 22.Bb4. 21...Rc7!! A fantastic move, starting a powerful counterplay. 22.c4? This is premature panicking with less than 3 minutes left. He should have accepted the sacrifice with 22.Nxc8 Raxc8 23.Rxe6 , although after 23...Rxc2 Black has sufficient material compensation and strong initiative for the bishop. Another important aspect is that the black king is safer than his colleague. White's position looks dangerous, but he would have remained in the game. 22...dxc3 23.Bxc3 d4
Everything is over now. Kamsky is a clear pawn down and had practically no time left on his clock. 24.Bb4 Bd7 25.Rf2 a5 26.Ba3 b5 27.b3 b4 28.Bb2 Ra6 29.Ne4 Rac6 30.Kg1 Rc2 31.g3 d3 32.Rd1 f5. A tragic game for Kamsky, but quite interesting to follow from the spectators' point of view. 0-1. [Click to replay]
Standings
Nat. Rtng. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Tot.
Kamsky, Gata USA 2725 ½ 0 0.5
Topalov, Veselin BUL 2796 ½ 1 1.5
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Schedule
Monday February 16: 18:00h Opening
Tuesday February 17: 15:00h Game 1 Topalov-Kamsky ½-½
Wednesday February 18: 15:00h Game 2 Kamsky-Topalov 0-1
Thursday February 19 Rest day
Friday February 20: 15:00h Game 3
Saturday February 21: 15:00h Game 4
Sunday February 22 Rest day
Monday
February 23: 15:00h Game 5
Tuesday February 24: 15:00h Game 6
Wednesday February 25 Rest day
Thursday February 26: 15:00h Game 7
Friday February 27: 15:00h Game 8
Saturday February 28 Tiebreaks
Official tournament site
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wijk R01: Top seeds Ivanchuk, Morozevich falter
17.01.2009 – Vassily Ivanchuk will be howling at the moon tonight. In an essentially drawn position, one move before the time control, the top seed in the A-Group overstepped and handed the point over to a pleasantly surprised Jan Smeets. Third seed Alexander Morozevich was taken to the cleaners by the former boy prodigy Sergey Karjakin. We bring you pictures, games and comments.
Results of round one
Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
Daniël Stellwagen - Sergei Movsesian
1/2
Magnus Carlsen - Teymour Radjabov
1/2
Levon Aronian - Wang Yue
1/2
Vassily Ivanchuk - Jan Smeets
0-1
Sergei Karjakin - Alexender Morozevich
1-0
Loek van Wely - Leinier Dominguez
1/2
Gata Kamsky - Michael Adams
1/2
Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
Hou Yifan - Rustam Kasimdzhanov
0-1
Krishnan Sasikiran - Erwin l'Ami
1/2
Dimitri Reinderman - Francisco Vallejo
0-1
Nigel Short - Jan Werle
1/2
Andrei Volokitin - Fabiano Caruana
1/2
Henrique Mecking - Zahar Efimenko
0-1
Alexander Motylev - David Navara
0-1
Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
T. Hillarp Persson - Roeland Pruijssers
1/2
David Howell - Manuel Bosboom
0-1
Friso Nijboer - Wesley So
0-1
Oleg Romanishin - Ali Bitalzadeh
1-0
Anish Giri - Frank Holzke
1/2
Abhijeet Gupta - Dronavalli Harika
0-1
Eduardo Iturrizaga - M. Leon Hoyos
1-0
Official web site
Results of round one
Group A: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
Daniël Stellwagen - Sergei Movsesian
1/2
Magnus Carlsen - Teymour Radjabov
1/2
Levon Aronian - Wang Yue
1/2
Vassily Ivanchuk - Jan Smeets
0-1
Sergei Karjakin - Alexender Morozevich
1-0
Loek van Wely - Leinier Dominguez
1/2
Gata Kamsky - Michael Adams
1/2
Group B: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
Hou Yifan - Rustam Kasimdzhanov
0-1
Krishnan Sasikiran - Erwin l'Ami
1/2
Dimitri Reinderman - Francisco Vallejo
0-1
Nigel Short - Jan Werle
1/2
Andrei Volokitin - Fabiano Caruana
1/2
Henrique Mecking - Zahar Efimenko
0-1
Alexander Motylev - David Navara
0-1
Group C: Round 1 - Sat. Jan. 17th
T. Hillarp Persson - Roeland Pruijssers
1/2
David Howell - Manuel Bosboom
0-1
Friso Nijboer - Wesley So
0-1
Oleg Romanishin - Ali Bitalzadeh
1-0
Anish Giri - Frank Holzke
1/2
Abhijeet Gupta - Dronavalli Harika
0-1
Eduardo Iturrizaga - M. Leon Hoyos
1-0
Official web site
Monday, January 5, 2009
GM Antonio posts 8th US win
Filipino grandmaster Rogelio “Joey” Antonio posted his eighth victory in the US chess circuit as he emerged as the overall champion in the recently concluded 2008 Los Angeles Chess Club Open Chess Championships at the Santa Monica Boulevard.
According to BilliardPhilippines.com, Antonio scored a total of 4.5 points in five outings in the event organized by US Chess Federation Life Senior Master and Chess Instructor Mick Bighamian.
Antonio bested competitors Ronald Morris, International Master Emory Tate, William Pennucci and RP and US Chess Master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr., who is also a sportswriter for BilliardPhilippines.com.
Tate settled for second place (4 points) while Berandino scored third place (3 points).
The win served as Antonio’s “rebound” after he suffered a setback at the 2008 North American Open Chess Championships last December 29 at the Bally’s Casino Resort and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Antonio failed to convert the winning position against his match to fellow GM Yury Shulman in the penultimate round.
According to BilliardPhilippines.com, Antonio scored a total of 4.5 points in five outings in the event organized by US Chess Federation Life Senior Master and Chess Instructor Mick Bighamian.
Antonio bested competitors Ronald Morris, International Master Emory Tate, William Pennucci and RP and US Chess Master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr., who is also a sportswriter for BilliardPhilippines.com.
Tate settled for second place (4 points) while Berandino scored third place (3 points).
The win served as Antonio’s “rebound” after he suffered a setback at the 2008 North American Open Chess Championships last December 29 at the Bally’s Casino Resort and Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Antonio failed to convert the winning position against his match to fellow GM Yury Shulman in the penultimate round.
Carlsen and Svidler qualify for final in Gjøvik
Chess Festival in Gjøvik, Norway
The Aker Chess Challenge is being played in the main auditorium of Gjøvik cinema, under the same roof as Thon Hotel, where Simen Agdestein in 1991 played a 2-2 drawn match with classic time controls against the long reigning world champion Anatolij Karpov.
The event consists of a double-round robin tournament, followed by a bronze final and a final. That is a total of eight rounds, plus if necessary sudden death blitz games. Time controls are 25 minutes per game, with 5 seconds increment per move. The games have a running commentary for spectators in an adjoining auditorium, and are also being transmitted live on Playchess and by the official web site (link below).
Results of rounds 5 + 6 (and tiebreaks)
Round 5: Sunday, January 4th 2009, 14:20h
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Peter Svidler
Kjetil Lie 0-1 Hikaru Nakamura
Round 6: Sunday, January 4th 2009, 15:40h
Peter Svidler 1-0 Kjetil Lie
Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
The GM Swiss Tournament in Gjøvik
A strong and challenging tournament with many grandmasters, at least six above 2600, is taking place as part of the Chess Festival in Gjøvik. It offers good opportunities for title norms of all types. The tournament was open for players with GM-, IM-, WGM-, WIM-, FM- or WFM-titles, and anyone else with an official FIDE rating of at least 2100 at registration. A limited number of players with rating below 2100 were included. The tournament is being played at the Thon Hotel Gjøvik.
The event is a nine round Swiss, one round a day except at the free day Saturday January 3rd, when it was possible to participate in the Open Norwegian Rapid-chess Championship. Time limits: 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves in one hour, and finally 30 minutes for the rest of the game (total seven hours). Money prizes: numbers 1-15 get Euro 2000, 1500, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 300, 250, 200, 175, 150, 140, 130, 120, 100, plus 250 Euro to the best female player, to the best player with rating 2200-2299 and the best player with rating under 2200. In total 8615 Euro.
Standings after six rounds
# Player rating points seed performance
1 GM Sergei Tiviakov 2686 4.5 1 2625 (-3.30)
2 GM Vadim Malakhatko 2633 4.5 3 2642 (+1.40)
3 GM Oleg Korneev 2623 4.5 4 2500 (-6.70)
4 GM Geetha.N. Gopal 2548 4.5 8 2642 (+8.40)
5 GM Nick E De Firmian 2545 4.5 9 2635 (+8.30)
6 FM Kjetil Stokke 2334 4.5 22 2423 (+10.95)
7 GM Boris Savchenko 2648 4.0 2 2694 (+3.20)
8 GM Mateusz Bartel 2602 4.0 6 2553 (-2.00)
9 GM Kaido Kulaots 2556 4.0 7 2643 (+6.30)
10 GM Aloyzas Kveinys 2533 4.0 10 2614 (+6.30)
11 IM Jon Ludvig Hammer 2522 4.0 11 2532 (+3.00)
12 IM Anna Zozulia 2380 4.0 17 2334 (-3.60)
13 Nijat Azad Abasov 2363 4.0 18 2419 (+6.45)
14 WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova 2351 4.0 19 2379 (+4.50)
15 WIM Katarzyna Toma 2230 4.0 28 2220 (-1.05)
16 GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili 2615 3.5 5 2512 (-4.90)
17 IM Frode Elsness 2440 3.5 12 2427 (+0.60)
18 IM Sasha Kaplan 2425 3.5 13 2338 (-5.40)
19 IM Maxim L Devereaux 2415 3.5 14 2410 (+0.50)
20 IM Israel Caspi 2408 3.5 15 2350 (-2.30)
21 IM Eirik Gullaksen 2400 3.5 16 2376 (-1.05)
22 Daniel Jakobsen Kovachev 2227 3.5 29 2284 (+7.35)
23 Lasse Østebø Løvik 2167 3.5 41 2320 (+17.85)
24 Jon Kristian Haarr 2057 3.5 58 2325 (+30.75)
Official tournament site
The Aker Chess Challenge is being played in the main auditorium of Gjøvik cinema, under the same roof as Thon Hotel, where Simen Agdestein in 1991 played a 2-2 drawn match with classic time controls against the long reigning world champion Anatolij Karpov.
The event consists of a double-round robin tournament, followed by a bronze final and a final. That is a total of eight rounds, plus if necessary sudden death blitz games. Time controls are 25 minutes per game, with 5 seconds increment per move. The games have a running commentary for spectators in an adjoining auditorium, and are also being transmitted live on Playchess and by the official web site (link below).
Results of rounds 5 + 6 (and tiebreaks)
Round 5: Sunday, January 4th 2009, 14:20h
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Peter Svidler
Kjetil Lie 0-1 Hikaru Nakamura
Round 6: Sunday, January 4th 2009, 15:40h
Peter Svidler 1-0 Kjetil Lie
Hikaru Nakamura ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
The GM Swiss Tournament in Gjøvik
A strong and challenging tournament with many grandmasters, at least six above 2600, is taking place as part of the Chess Festival in Gjøvik. It offers good opportunities for title norms of all types. The tournament was open for players with GM-, IM-, WGM-, WIM-, FM- or WFM-titles, and anyone else with an official FIDE rating of at least 2100 at registration. A limited number of players with rating below 2100 were included. The tournament is being played at the Thon Hotel Gjøvik.
The event is a nine round Swiss, one round a day except at the free day Saturday January 3rd, when it was possible to participate in the Open Norwegian Rapid-chess Championship. Time limits: 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves in one hour, and finally 30 minutes for the rest of the game (total seven hours). Money prizes: numbers 1-15 get Euro 2000, 1500, 1000, 800, 600, 400, 300, 250, 200, 175, 150, 140, 130, 120, 100, plus 250 Euro to the best female player, to the best player with rating 2200-2299 and the best player with rating under 2200. In total 8615 Euro.
Standings after six rounds
# Player rating points seed performance
1 GM Sergei Tiviakov 2686 4.5 1 2625 (-3.30)
2 GM Vadim Malakhatko 2633 4.5 3 2642 (+1.40)
3 GM Oleg Korneev 2623 4.5 4 2500 (-6.70)
4 GM Geetha.N. Gopal 2548 4.5 8 2642 (+8.40)
5 GM Nick E De Firmian 2545 4.5 9 2635 (+8.30)
6 FM Kjetil Stokke 2334 4.5 22 2423 (+10.95)
7 GM Boris Savchenko 2648 4.0 2 2694 (+3.20)
8 GM Mateusz Bartel 2602 4.0 6 2553 (-2.00)
9 GM Kaido Kulaots 2556 4.0 7 2643 (+6.30)
10 GM Aloyzas Kveinys 2533 4.0 10 2614 (+6.30)
11 IM Jon Ludvig Hammer 2522 4.0 11 2532 (+3.00)
12 IM Anna Zozulia 2380 4.0 17 2334 (-3.60)
13 Nijat Azad Abasov 2363 4.0 18 2419 (+6.45)
14 WGM Zeinab Mamedjarova 2351 4.0 19 2379 (+4.50)
15 WIM Katarzyna Toma 2230 4.0 28 2220 (-1.05)
16 GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili 2615 3.5 5 2512 (-4.90)
17 IM Frode Elsness 2440 3.5 12 2427 (+0.60)
18 IM Sasha Kaplan 2425 3.5 13 2338 (-5.40)
19 IM Maxim L Devereaux 2415 3.5 14 2410 (+0.50)
20 IM Israel Caspi 2408 3.5 15 2350 (-2.30)
21 IM Eirik Gullaksen 2400 3.5 16 2376 (-1.05)
22 Daniel Jakobsen Kovachev 2227 3.5 29 2284 (+7.35)
23 Lasse Østebø Løvik 2167 3.5 41 2320 (+17.85)
24 Jon Kristian Haarr 2057 3.5 58 2325 (+30.75)
Official tournament site
Sunday, September 28, 2008
World Champion Garry Kasparov At First Harlem Children's Zone Chess Festival
Sept. 24, 2008, Harlem, NY – Garry Kasparov, the highest-ranked chess player in the world, is taking his game uptown to the Harlem Children's Zone Chess Festival on Sunday, September 28th. As part of the celebration, Kasparov will play 20 games simultaneously against student players from Harlem.
Hosted by the Harlem Children's Zone, the festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will give children and adults, novices and advanced players, the opportunity to participate in a wide range of chess activities. The festival will feature free chess lessons, a free drawing for 300 chess sets and T-shirts, problem-solving contests and free refreshments. The festival will be open to HCZ children and invited guests.
The festival will take place at the Harlem Children's Zone Community Center, 35 East 125th Street.
There will also be a free five-round blitz tournament for children in three sections: Class A and B (1600-1999 ranking); Class C and D (1200-1599 ranking) and Class E and F (800-1199 ranking). Children and adults can also take part in an unrated, open section tournament.
According to Michael Khodarkovsky, President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation, "The Harlem Children's Zone Chess Festival recognizes the importance of chess, and through cooperation between KCF and Harlem Children's Zone, is making it easily accessible to the entire community," he explained.
"Boys and girls in our chess program have been placing at the top of city, state and national tournaments," said Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone. "But more importantly, these kids are giving their minds an incredible workout, developing important analytical and organizational skills."
About Harlem Children's Zone
Harlem Children's Zone, Inc., is an internationally renown not-for-profit, offering education, social-service and community-building services to children and families in Central Harlem.
Founded in 1970 as Rheedlen, the agency began the innovative, holistic Harlem Children's Zone Project in 2000, aiming to serve 10,000 children within a 100-block area of Central Harlem by 2011. The HCZ Project was called "one of the most ambitious social-policy experiments of out time," by The New York Times Magazine.
Canada and the organization have received numerous awards and attention in the media. The organizations work has been profiled by The New York Times, 60 Minutes, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, the Associated Press and The Charlie Rose Show, among others.
For information on Harlem Children's Zone, please visit www.hcz.org.
About Kasparov Chess Foundation
Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, KCF's mission is to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children throughout the United States by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs for elementary, middle and high schools, both in the public and private school sectors. The not-for-profit educational organization also organizes tournaments and competitions on a local and national basis. For more information, please visit www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.
Hosted by the Harlem Children's Zone, the festival will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will give children and adults, novices and advanced players, the opportunity to participate in a wide range of chess activities. The festival will feature free chess lessons, a free drawing for 300 chess sets and T-shirts, problem-solving contests and free refreshments. The festival will be open to HCZ children and invited guests.
The festival will take place at the Harlem Children's Zone Community Center, 35 East 125th Street.
There will also be a free five-round blitz tournament for children in three sections: Class A and B (1600-1999 ranking); Class C and D (1200-1599 ranking) and Class E and F (800-1199 ranking). Children and adults can also take part in an unrated, open section tournament.
According to Michael Khodarkovsky, President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation, "The Harlem Children's Zone Chess Festival recognizes the importance of chess, and through cooperation between KCF and Harlem Children's Zone, is making it easily accessible to the entire community," he explained.
"Boys and girls in our chess program have been placing at the top of city, state and national tournaments," said Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone. "But more importantly, these kids are giving their minds an incredible workout, developing important analytical and organizational skills."
About Harlem Children's Zone
Harlem Children's Zone, Inc., is an internationally renown not-for-profit, offering education, social-service and community-building services to children and families in Central Harlem.
Founded in 1970 as Rheedlen, the agency began the innovative, holistic Harlem Children's Zone Project in 2000, aiming to serve 10,000 children within a 100-block area of Central Harlem by 2011. The HCZ Project was called "one of the most ambitious social-policy experiments of out time," by The New York Times Magazine.
Canada and the organization have received numerous awards and attention in the media. The organizations work has been profiled by The New York Times, 60 Minutes, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, the Associated Press and The Charlie Rose Show, among others.
For information on Harlem Children's Zone, please visit www.hcz.org.
About Kasparov Chess Foundation
Founded by World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov, KCF's mission is to bring the many educational benefits of chess to children throughout the United States by providing a complete chess curriculum and enrichment programs. The Foundation promotes the study of chess as a cognitive learning tool in curricular classes and after-school programs for elementary, middle and high schools, both in the public and private school sectors. The not-for-profit educational organization also organizes tournaments and competitions on a local and national basis. For more information, please visit www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.
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