2013 and Indian Chess Memories

The Year 2013 for Indian Chess: New Delhi - It started with a great deal of chess excitement and anticipation but year 2013 turned out to be a disappointing one for Indian chess as the legendary Viswanathan Anand got outplayed in his own backyard to surrender the World Chess Championship crown.

It was a chess story of missed opportunities, expected draws and some unexpected losses for Anand as the veteran lost to Norwegian prodigy Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship match held in his home town of Chennai.

There was a sense of enthusiasm in the beginning of the year as India begun its preparation to host the World Chess Championship in Chennai, where the Indian great was scheduled to defend his title, which he had won five times in 2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012.

Anand started the year with a joint third finish after suffering a shocking last-round defeat against Wang Hao of China at the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament.

The Indian came back strongly, notching up his first title of the year when he scored an emphatic victory over German Arkadij Naiditsch to lift the Grenke Chess Classic trophy.

Anand then competed in a tough field at the Zurich Chess Challenge and finished second after beating Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the final round.

However, the year went from good to bad for Anand from here on as he finished third in the Alekhine memorial chess tournament after playing out a draw with Boris Gelfand of Israel in the ninth and final round at St. Petersburg, Russia in May.

In Norway Super tournament, Anand faced off with his world championship challenger Magnus Carlsen and the Indian held him to an easy draw.

He crushed Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria but suffered a shocking defeat to Hikaru Nakamura of US next. Despite a couple of draws, he stayed in contention for the title but a heart-breaking loss to Wang Hao of China meant he finished fourth.

Next month, Anand participated in Tal memorial and finished second in blitz tournament but in the main event, he lost to Fabiano Caruana of Italy, drew with Dmitry Andreikin of Russia, won against Russian Alexander Morozevich, and was held to a draw by Gelfand.

However, it was the shock defeat to Carlsen in the fifth round pushed him down the points table to seventh spot. He also lost to American Nakamura before drawing the next three games to finish ninth.

With four months to go for the much-awaited World Chess Championship, Anand started his preparation for the tournament with his seconds at an undisclosed location even as the hype surrounding the match touched a crescendo.

However, the 12-game tournament turned out to be a disappointing affair for Anand as the 22-year-old Carlsen broke the Indian brick by brick and dethroned him of his World Chess title with a draw in the 10th game.

The 44-year-old Indian, who was the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2007 to 2013, lost the title to the world number one with a scoreline of 6.5-3.5 after 10 of the 12 scheduled games.

Anand drew the first four games but then suffered two successive losses. The Indian drew the next two games but in the ninth round, Anand succumbed to another loss to push to the corner. Carlsen then drew the 10th game to complete his coronation as the new king of chess.

Anand took the heart-breaking defeat to Carlsen in his stride and participated in the London Chess Classic. He was in joint lead on seven points at the half-way stage of the preliminaries.

A victory over Luke McShane of England and an easy draw against tailender Andrei Istratescu of France helped him reached the quarters but a loss to Vladimir Kramnik of Russia saw him bows out of London Chess Classic.

While Anand tumbled, the young brigade, including Parimarjan Negi, notched up a few wins in the year to bring some smiles for the Indian fans. -- Amit Kumar Das/PTI

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World Cup: All Indians Knocked Out

Grandmaster and former national champion B. Adhiban bowed out of the chess World Cup after losing his second game on the trot against higher-ranked Hikaru Nakamura of United States in the third round in Tromso. (Left Photo B Adhiban) Overall, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Tomashevsky, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Boris Gelfand and Gata Kamsky guaranteed their places in the fourth stage. Julio Granda Zuniga levelled the score by defeating Anish Giri to play the tiebreaks on August 19. Alexander Grischuk played the longest game of the round against Le Quang Liem and managed to level the score after 154 moves and 6.5 hours. Ten matches will be decided by tiebreaks. 

As regards the Indian challenge, losing the first game as white, Adhiban started the day in a must-win situation but his aspirations suffered setbacks as Nakamura scored another chance-less victory against the Indian.

Adhiban was the best-performing Indian in the event as compatriots G. Akash and Parimarjan Negi had crashed out in the first round itself against Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine.

Krishnan Sasikiran found his nemesis in Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the second round of the 128-player knockout event.

World No. 2 Levon Aronian knocked out by...

World number two Levon Aronian of Armenia was sent packing too as he could not win in the return game against Evgeny Tomashevski of Russia and lost the two-games mini-match by 0.5-1.5 margin.

...Evgeny Tomashevski of Russia

Russian Alexander Grischuk however rose from his ashes to square it up against Le Quang Liem of Vietnam. It was a dead-drawn endgame on board which on another day was no problem for Liem.

  

Great fighting spirit: Alexander Grischuk

However, the pressure got to the Vietnamese as he squandered away the chance to be in last 16 and will have to now battle it out in the rapid tiebreaker.

Apart from victories by Grischuk and Nakamura, the day provided just one more decisive game and veteran Peruvian Grandmaster Julio Granda Zuniga benefitted at the expense of Dutchman Anish Giri.

Fighting for Peru: Julio Granada Zuniga

Incidentally, Anish had won the first game so this one too goes to the tie-break stage.

Adhiban went for the King’s Indian defence against Nakamura but the American just went for an equal variation that involved trading of queens early in the opening.

Seeking a victory desperately, Adhiban felt the heat and his attempts to complicate did not come good. Nakamura spotted an opportunity to sacrifice an exchange that sealed the fate of the game effectively and the American notched the victory in 40 moves.

Adhiban got $16,000 after his ouster out of which 20 per cent will be paid to FIDE as part of the regulations. The Indian had beaten Evgeny Alekseev of Russia in the first round and Alexander Fier of Brazil in the second. (All photos by Anastasiya Karlovich)

Results round 3 game 1: Levon Aronian (Arm) lost to Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) 0.5-1.5; Vladimir Malakhov (Rus) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Ita) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Vloadimir Kramnik (Rus) drew with Alexander Areshchenko (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Le Quang Liem (Vie) v/s Alexander Grischuk (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Sergey Karjakin (Ukr) drew with Pavel Eljanov (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; B Adhiban (Ind) lost to Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) 0-2; Boris Gelfand (Isr) beat Alexander Moiseenko (Ukr) 1.5-0.5; Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor) lost to Gata Kamsky (Usa) 0.5-1.5; S Mamedyarov (Aze) drew with Wei Yi (Chn) 1-1; M Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) beat Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cub) 1.5-0.5; Daniil Dubov (Rus) drew with Anton Korobov (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Dmitry Andreikin (Rus) drew with Aleksey Dreev (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Peter Svidler (Rus) beat Teimour Radjabov (Aze) 1.5-0.5; Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) drew with Yuri Kryvoruchko (Ukr) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Julio Granda Zuniga (Per) v/s Anish Giri (Ned) 1-1, goes to tiebreak; Nikita Vitiugov (Rus) drew with Alexander Morozevich (Rus) 1-1, goes to tiebreak.

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World Chess Cup R1.2: Akash Exits

Caruana and Akash - Young talents

India's Parimarjan Negi let slip a position of strength and lost to Ukraine’s Yuri Kryvoruchko in the second game of the chess World Cup in Tromso. The shocking loss with white pieces means that Negi will have to now battle it out in the tie-break games of shorter duration as the final score after the two-game mini-match stands tied at 1-1.

G. Akash made his exit from the 128-player event with a memorable game wherein he held world No. 3 Caruana to a creditable draw with black pieces.

Having lost the first game of the match, the draw only helped Akash to gain some rating but this is one result he will cherish for a long time.

B. Adhiban played out his second draw with Evgeny Alekseev of Russia while K. Sasikiran achieved the same result against Constantin Lupulescu of Romania.

Negi was pretty unlucky not to progress to the round of 64. Kryvoruchko went for the Sicilian Dragon but his hopes of a combat in complications evaporated as Negi got slightly better position without much ado. Kryvoruchko had to part with a pawn also and it was smooth sailing for the Indian till disaster struck on move 42. Negi followed a mistake with a blunder and the fate of the game was soon sealed.

Sasikiran allowed the Nimzo Indian defence but could not force an advantage in the late middle game. Lupulescu, to his credit, handled the middle game well enough to remain in hunt for the next round.

Adhiban had slightly better prospects against former Russian champion Alekseev but to make progress was not easy for the Indian. Alekseev equalised towards the end and just repeated moves to force a draw.

In other important results, the world’s highest ranked woman Judit Polgar of Hungary was ousted by Isan Ortiz Suarez of Spain while defending champion Peter Svidler of Russia was shocked by women’s world champion Anna Ushenina.

Just as on day one there were plenty of fireworks on the second day of the FIDE World Cup in Tromsø. Thirteen players won their matches with a 2-0 score (not counting Alexander Moiseenko, whose opponent could not come to Tromsø).

While some victories with impressive results could be expected from top players such as Aronian, Kramnik, Grischuk, Nakamura and Dominguez, there were also a few 2-0 results produced by players with ratings lower than their opponents.

Russian GM Daniil Dubov managed to outplay experienced and higher rated Ukrainian GM Sergey Fedorchuk. American GM Ray Robson didn’t leave any chances for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin by winning 2-0. One of the most surprising results for those who compare the ratings of opponents happened in the Nepomniachtchi-Wei match. The youngest participant of the event, Chinese GM Yi Wei (a nominee of FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov), defeated Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 1.5-0.5.

The participants of the upcoming Women’s World Championship match Hou Yifan and Anna Ushenina are doing well so far. Anna Ushenina defeated Peter Svidler in his favorite Gruenfeld and Hou Yifan drew the second game against Alexei Shirov. The reigning and former Women’s World Champions will proceed to the playoff stage on Tuesday.

Judit Polgar, the strongest female player in the history of chess, lost out on a number of winning chances, drew against Cuban GM Isan Reynaldo Ortiz and lost the match. A total of 28 matches were undecided after two games at the classical time control and 56 players will continue to fight at 3 p.m. local time on August 13.
Russian GM Alexander Morozevich lost his first game, but managed to equalize.

Rising star from Russia GM Daniil Dubov defeated GM Sergey Fedorchuk 2-0 as well. GM Michael Adams made a second draw against Wan Yunguo of China. The strongest Chinese GM Wang Hao outplayed his compatriot Liu Qingnan. An unexpectedly quick elimination for Ukrainian GM Andrei Volokitin. Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Polish IM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who upset him with a draw the day before.

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout which starts with 128 players and runs from August 10 to September 3rd. The top two players will qualify for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament which will take place in March 2014 and determine the challenger for the World Championship match in 2014.

The time control for each two-game match is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games, played at a rate of 25 minutes for each player with an increment of 10 seconds per move. If the score is still equal then two accelerated games will be played, with a time control of 10 min + 10 sec. If the score is still equal two more games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec. If the winner is still not determined then a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn). 

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World Chess Cup R1: Negi Wins

World’s second youngest ever Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi of India outplayed higher-ranked Yuri Kryvoruchko of Ukraine in the first round of the World Chess Cup which began here.

Fresh from some strong performances including a recent victory in the Politiken Cup with a whopping 9/10 score, Negi proved that his warm up tactics before the World Cup were perfect as Kryvoruchko proved no match.

It turned out to be a mixed day for the Indians in the first round of this knockout event as B Adhiban held higher ranked Grandmaster Evegny Alekseev to a draw while Krishnan Sasikiran drew easily as black against Romanian Grandmaster Constantin Lupulescu.

Indian champion G Akash, however, lost his first game of the two-game mini-match against Fabiano Caruana of Italy.

Akash now needs a victory in the return game to stay in the hunt in the 128-players event.

Negi was the star of the day as he almost effortlessly outplayed Kryvoruchko in all departments of the game. Playing the black side of a Sicilian Scheveningen, Negi used a new idea that unsettled the Ukrainian early and showed precise technique to go one up.

Kryvoruchko now faces a daunting task to make a comeback as he has to win with black pieces.

Adhiban employed the Sicilian Taimanov and was happy to get the Fianchetto variation on board. Soon as the middle game arrived, Alekseev went for a direct attack on the king side only to realise soon that it was not intimidating enough.

 

Adhiban could have pressed for more but given his maiden appearance in the World Cup, a draw with black against much higher ranked Alekseev was a good result.

Apart from the Indians, the first day witnessed the top seeds win apart from a few surprises. The round started late due to a security check. A minute's silence was also observed in memory of Russian GM Kurnosov who passed away, at the age of 28, in a tragic road accident recently.

GM Alexander Morozevich lost to Canadian GM Bator Sambuev in the biggest upset of the day. GM Ray Robson beat the higher rated GM Andrey Volokitin. GM Gata Kamsky and GM Michael Adams drew against Chinese players Lou Yiping and Wan Yunguo respectively. Former Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan drew with GM Alexey Shirov, but reigning Women's World Champion Anna Ushenina lost to defending champion Peter Svidler. Four women are taking part in the FIDE World Cup in Tromso: Judit Polgar, Hou Yifan, Anna Ushenina and Deysi Cori. Judit Polgar also lost to GM Reynaldo Suarez Ortiz in a big upset.  

The first games of the opening round started in Tromso after Commissioner for Business, Culture and Sports of Tromso Municipality, Mr. Jonas Stein, made the first symbolic move in the Aronian-Markov game. (PTI and Agencies)

The FIDE World Cup is a knockout, starting with 128 players. Two games are played between each pair of players. The rate of play is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move, starting from move one. If the score is equal there are two rapid chess tiebreak games (25 min + 10 sec), then, if the score is still tied, two accelerated games (10 min + 10 sec). If the score is still tied two blitz games will be played at 5 min + 3 sec, and if there is still no decision a final Armageddon game with 5 minutes for White and 4 minutes for Black, with a 3 sec increment after move 60, will be played. In this game Black has draw odds (i.e. he wins if the game is drawn). The winner and the runner-up of the World Cup 2013 will qualify for the Candidates Tournament of the next World Championship cycle.

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World Chess Cup Live from Aug 11

A chess feast is set so mark your calendar for the World Chess Cup 2013 from August 11-September 3 in Tromsø Norway. We are delighted to officially announce the 128 players in the FIDE World Cup 2013 in Tromsø. In the 1st round of the World Chess Cup 2013, the three top-seeded players GM Levon Aronian of Armenia, GM Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Russian GM Vladimir Kramnik face Mikhail Markov (2305) of Kyrgyzstan, IM G. Akash (2332) from India and FM Gillian Bwalya (2310) from Zambia respectively. Previous World Cup winner GM Peter Svidler of Russia faces reigning Women's World Chess Champion GM Anna Ushenina of Ukraine.

Watch the live broadcast of the World Chess Cup 2013 at the official website beginning Sunday, August 11.

G. Akash happens to be the youngest-ever Indian chess player to have won the Indian national chess title breaking Viswanathan Anand's record. He is participating in the event for the first time. The other Indians in the event are Parimarjan Negi, B Adhiban and Krishnan Sasikiran.  

The World Chess Cup 2013 is a part of the World Championship Cycle 2012-2014. The winner and the runners-up will qualify for the Candidates of the World Championship cycle 2012-2014. There are 128 qualifiers (in order of priority): World Champion + four (4) semi-finalists from the World Cup 2011, Women’s World Champion, World Junior U-20 Champions 2011 & 2012, eighteen (18) rated players as described in 3.1.2, ninety (92) players from Continental Championships, six (6) FIDE President nominees, four (4) organiser nominees.

There will be six (6) rounds of matches comprising two (2) games per round, with the winners progressing to the next round, plus the final seventh (7th) round comprising of four (4) games.

Here is the official video of the World Chess Cup 2013.

Side Chess Events
Tromsø Chess Club (TSK) and Tromsø Youth Chess Club (TSKU) are organizing a series of open tournaments on the sidelines of the World Chess Cup 2013. Title players who get knocked out from the World Cup will play in these tournaments. Arctic Chess NGP, an international weekend tournament, will be held on 16-18th August as a seven-round swiss open. The total prize fund is 5000 EUR.
A Main: 1000-600-400; Elo-2300: 500-300-200; Elo–2000: 250-150-100
B Main: 500-300-200; Elo-1500: 250-150-100
The first three rounds will be played with the time control 20′+5”, while the remaining four rounds will be played with classical 90′+30”.
The legendary TSKU chess cafe will be operating outside the playing venue throughout the tournament.
Registration
Chief Arbiter: Trond Romsdal
Arbiter: Øyvind Pedersen
Organizer: Jan Sigmund Berglund (+47 992 79 489)

An exclusion

One of the strongest Egyptian Grandmasters Ahmed Adly will have to skip the event due to obligatory service in the Egyptian Army. Adly told The Chess Drum that he had exhausted all efforts including the submission of an official letter from the Ministry of Sports. The other Egyptian players (GM Bassem Amin, GM Essam El-Gindy and IM Samy Shoker) were not affected.

The complete players' list is as follows:
For the pairings please see the Results and Pairings page.

a) 2011 World Cup semi-finalists
01. P. Svidler (RUS)
02. A. Grischuk (RUS)
03. V. Ivanchuk (UKR)
04. R. Ponomariov (UKR)

b) 2012 Women's World Champion
05. A. Ushenina (UKR)

c) 2011 and 2012 Junior World Champions
06. D. Swiercz (POL)
07. A. Ipatov (TUR)

d) 18 players based on their average FIDE rating from 3/2012 to 1/2013
08. L. Aronian (ARM) 2816.22
09. V. Kramnik (RUS) 2798.88
10. T. Radjabov (AZE) 2789.22
11. S. Karjakin (RUS) 2777.44
12. F. Caruana (ITA) 2775.44
13. H. Nakamura (USA) 2772.77
14. A. Morozevich (RUS) 2760.44
15. G. Kamsky (USA) 2748.55
16. S. Mamedyarov (AZE) 2744.88
17. Wang Hao (CHN) 2739.11
18. B. Gelfand (ISR) 2738.44
19. P. Leko (HUN) 2731.11
20. E. Tomashevsky (RUS) 2728.77
21. L. Dominguez (CUB) 2727.44
22. M. Adams (ENG) 2721.66
23. R. Wojtaszek (POL) 2721.55
24. A. Giri (NED) 2715.33
25. I. Nepomniachtchi (RUS) 2709.00
26. A. Shirov (LAT) 2708.33

e) 46 players from the 2012 and 2013 European Championships
27. D. Jakovenko (RUS) 2012
28. L. Fressinet (FRA) 2012
29. V. Malakhov (RUS) 2012
30. D. Andreikin (RUS) 2012
31. E. Inarkiev (RUS) 2012
32. M. Matlakov (RUS) 2012
33. V. Bologan (MDA) 2012
34. F. Vallejo Pons (ESP) 2012
35. Y. Kryvoruchko (UKR) 2012
36. S. Azarov (BLR) 2012
37. E. Najer (RUS) 2012
38. V. Akopian (ARM) 2012
39. A. Volokitin (UKR) 2012
40. J. Smeets (NED) 2012
41. C.B. Gawain Jones (ENG) 2012
42. N. Vitiugov (RUS) 2012
43. E. Bacrot (FRA) 2012
44. A. Dreev (RUS) 2012
45. D. Khismatullin (RUS) 2012
46. M. Kobalia (RUS) 2012
47. V. Durarbeyli (AZE) 2012
48. A. Riazantsev (RUS) 2012
49. B. Jobava (GEO) 2012
50. A. Moiseenko (UKR) 2013
51. E. Alekseev (RUS) 2013
52. E. Romanov (RUS) 2013
53. A. Beliavsky (SLO) 2013
54. C. Lupulescu (ROU) 2013
55. S. Movsesian (ARM) 2013
56. H. Melkumyan (ARM) 2013
57. A. Korobov (UKR) 2013
58. I. Lysyj (RUS) 2013
59. A. Shimanov (RUS) 2013
60. A. Areshchenko (UKR) 2013
61. P. Eljanov (UKR) 2013
62. M. Kravtsiv (UKR) 2013
63. D. Dubov (RUS) 2013
64. M. Ragger (AUT) 2013
65. Z. Hracek (CZE) 2013
66. I. Popov (RUS) 2013
67. S. Brunello (ITA) 2013
68. S. A. Fedorchuk (UKR) 2013
69. E. Postny (ISR) 2013
70. V. Zvjaginsev (RUS) 2013
71. A. Istratescu (FRA) 2013
72. E. Safarli (AZE) 2013

f) 20 players from the Americas
73. G. Kaidanov (USA) Continental 2012
74. J. Granda Zuniga (PER) Continental 2012
75. A. Shabalov (USA) Continental 2012
76. E. Hansen (CAN) Continental 2012
77. A. Ramirez (USA) Zonal 2.1
78. A. Onischuk (USA) Zonal 2.1
79. C. Holt (USA) Zonal 2.1
80. L. M. Christiansen (USA) Zonal 2.1
81. R. Robson (USA) Zonal 2.1
82. I. R. Ortiz Suarez (CUB) Continental 2013
83. D. Flores (ARG) Continental 2013
84. J. Cori (PER) Continental 2013
85. D. Cori T. (PER) Continental 2013
86. R. Felgaer (ARG) Zonal 2.5
87. S. Mareco (ARG) Zonal 2.5
88. R. Leitao (BRA) Zonal 2.4
89. A. Fier (BRA) Zonal 2.4
90. B. Sambuev (CAN) Zonal 2.2
91. L. Bruzon (CUB) (Zonal 2.3)
92. E. Iturrizaga (VEN) (Zonal 2.3)

g) 20 players from Asia/Oceania
93. Negi Parimarjan (IND) Continental 2012
94. Yu Yangyi (CHN) Continental 2012
95. Salem A. R. Saleh (UAE) Continental 2012
96. Liu Qingnan (CHN) Continental 2012
97. Oliver Barbosa (PHI) Continental 2012
98. Nguyen Ngoc Trung Son (VIE) Zonal 3.3
99. Wesley So (PHI) Zonal 3.3
100. G. Akash (IND) Zonal 3.7
101. Z. Rahman (BAN) Zonal 3.2
102. Lou Yiping (CHN) Zonal 3.5
103. Wan Yunguo (CHN) Zonal 3.5
104. Li Chao B (CHN) Continental 2013
105. M. Paragua (PHI) Continental 2013
106. Le Quang Liem (VIE) Continental 2013
107. B. Adhiban (IND) Continental 2013
108. K. Sasikiran (IND) Continental 2013
109. I. Bjelobrk (AUS) Zonal 3.6
110. Darini Pouria (IRI) Zonal 3.1
111. A. Filippov (UZB) Zonal 3.4
112. M. Markov (KGZ) Zonal 3.4

h) 6 players from Africa
113. Amin Bassem (EGY) Continental 2013
114. A. Adly (EGY) Continental 2013
115. E. El Gindy (EGY) Continental 2013
116. Ali Sebbar (MAR) Zonal 4.1
117. S. Shoker (EGY) Zonal 4.2
118. Gillian Bwalya (ZAM) Zonal 4.3

i) 6 nominees of the FIDE President
119. M. Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
120. Hou Yifan (CHN)
121. J. Polgar (HUN)
122. D. Navara (CZE)
123. J-K. Duda (POL)
124. Wei Yi (CHN)

j) 4 nominees of the local organising committee
125. Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)
126. Simen Agdestein (NOR)
127. Leif Erlend Johannessen (NOR)
128. Torbjorn Ringdal Hansen (NOR)

Total = 128 players

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Negi is Joint Winner World Open 2013

India's young Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi finished tied first with 10 others and shared the prize money of $43,000 at the World Open Chess in Arlington, Virginia. According to information reaching here, another Indian Grandmaster, Magesh Panchanathan finished 11th in the tournament that concluded Sunday.

The 41st Annual World Open was held from June 29-July 7, 2013, at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, 2799 Jefferson Davis Highway, Arlington, Virginia.

World Open 2013 had a very close and exciting finish Sunday morning with a 10-way tie for the first place in the Open Section. It was the second time that Negi was jointly declared the winner. Earlier this week, Negi won the DC Open title by scoring 7.5/9, clearly half point ahead of his nearest rival at the same venue.

The full list of GMs who tied for first at the 2013 World Open include: GM Lazaro Bruzon, of Cuba; GM Viktor Laznicka, of the Czech Republic; GM Tamaz Gelashvili, of Georgia (the country); GM Varuzhan Akobian, of Kansas; GM Quesada Yunieski, of Cuba; GM Sergey Erenburg, of Pennsylvania; GM Parimarjan Negi, of India; GM Alejandro Ramirez, of Texas; and GM Yury Shulman, of Illinois.

GM Akobian earned the title of World Open champion in a Armageddon game victory over GM Yunieski, in which Akobian had black and draw odds but Yunieski had a 5 to 3 minute time advantage. The tiebreak was played between the two GMs with the best tiebreak score.

Akobian also took a bonus prize for this win, for a total payout of 3990.90. GM Varuzhan Akobian said players usually have to score 7 points to share the World Open first place prize money with just a few players. Akobian won the World Open outright in 2004 with 7.5 points and was one of nine players to win the World Open in 2007 with 6.5 points. (Agencies)

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Leiden Chess: Negi Wins Second Place With Cool Games

The reigning Asian chess champion and former national chess champion, India's Parimarjan Negi, has come second at the Leiden Open Chess in The Netherlands. Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi beat Benjamin Bok of the Netherlands in the ninth round to finish sole second. Negi had lost to British GM David Howell in the previous round, but he bounced back to get back into the top slots. Negi finished the event with seven points. Negi's last-round game is a must-watch for all fans of the young Grandmaster for it's neat Queen manoeuvre at our Chess King page.
 
Howell (7.5) won the title with a last-round draw with Predrag Nikolic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Indian Grandmasters S Arun Prasad and M R Lalith Babu finished in a six-way tie for the third place. Bartosz Socko of Poland, Evgeny Vorobiov of Russia, Csaba Horvath of Hungary and Nikolic were the other four players who scored 6.5 points. In the tiebreaker, Arun Prasad finished sixth while Babu was declared eighth. The other Indian GM S Kidambi finished 17th with 5.5 points.

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