World Cup: Adhiban in Round 3

Grandmaster and former national champion B.Adhiban made the most of his opportunities to beat Brazilian Grandmaster Alexander Fier in the second round and advance to the third round of the chess World Cup here.

After drawing the first game as white Adhiban made good use of his opportunities as Fier went berserk while trying to attack and lost a piece and the game soon after.

The other Indian left in the fray -- Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran -- again did well to hold the Russian world number nine Sergey Karjakin to tie the two games match 1-1 and set up a tie-break contest to start with the rapid games.

Chinese teenage sensation Wei Yi continued with his demolition act and ousted highly-regarded Alexei Shirov of Latvia after winning the second game. In the first round, Yi had beaten Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.

Sasikiran plays the tiebreak against Russian Sergey Karjakin on Friday - watch live India time 6.30 pm. Will he go to Round 3 as well?

Among the higher seeds, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Fabiano Caruana of Italy and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine cruised in to the third round effectively at the expense of Mikhail Markovof and Dariusz Swierczof of Poland, Yu Yangyi of China and Ray Robson of United States respectively.

However, Gata Kamsky of United States and former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia were stretched to the tiebreaker by Russians Alexander Shimanov and Mikhail Kobalija.

Among other fancied players, Anish Giri of Holland accounted for Li Chao of China for the second time in two days while Hikaru Nakamura of United States did not disappoint his fans and moved to the last 32 defeating Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan by 1.5-0.5 margin.

Adhiban stole the thunder showing determination and skill to hold a difficult position against Fier.

It was a Four Knights opening by Fier that gave excellent position to the Brazilian as white but he soon crumbled impatiently while going for a quick checkmate with a piece sacrifice.

Adhiban digested the extra piece with remarkable ease and proved that white’s attack was only optical.

Sasikiran went for the trusted Breyer defense as black against Karjakin and the Russian could not do much despite having the experience of playing at the top level. The game was drawn in just 23 moves.

Important and Indian results round 2 game 1: Evgeny Tomashevsky (Rus) beat So Wesley (Phi) 1.5-0.5; Alexander Morozevich (Rus) beat Rafael Leitao (Ger) 1.5-0.5; Gata Kamsky (Usa) v/s Aleksandr Shimanov (Rus) 1-1 goes to tiebreak; Alexei Shirov (Lat) lost to Wei Yi (Chn) 0.5-1.5; Alexander Grischuk (Rus) beat Dariusz Swiercz (Pol) 1.5-0.5; Krishnan Sasikiran (Ind) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Rus) 1-1, goes for tiebreak; Fabiano Caruana (Ita) beat Yu Yangyi (Chn) 1.5-0.5; Julio Granda Zuniga (Per) beat Peter Leko (Hun) 1.5-0.5; Anish Giri (Ned) beat Li Chao (Chn) 2-0; Leinier Dominguez Perez (Cub) beat Alexander Onischuk (Usa) 1.5-0.5; Ray Robson (Usa) lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukr) 0-2; Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) beat Eltaj Safarli (Aze) 1.5-0.5; B Adhiban beat Alexandr Fier (Bra) 1.5-0.5; Anotn Korobov (Ukr) v/s Baadur Jobava (Geo) 1-1, goes to tiebreak.

Read more »

World Cup R2: Sasi, Adhiban Draw

Tromsø, Norway: Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran kept himself in the hunt by holding Sergey Karjakin of Russia to a draw in the first game of the second round of World Chess Cup here  on Wednesday.

After beating Romanian Constantin Lupulescu in the tiebreak games, Sasikiran took it easy in the first encounter of the two-game mini-match and gave little chance to Karjakin, ranked ninth in the world currently.

Grandmaster B Adhiban, however, could not make use of a good advantage and drew with Brazilian GM Alexander Fier after an opening tussle.

Former national champion, Sasikiran surprised Karjakin by going for the King's Indian attack as white.

Karjakin spent more time in the opening but it was clear that the Russian was well-prepared and was only trying to remember the best moves. As the middle game approached, Karjakin got his counter play rolling on the queen side and Sasikiran had to play a bit cautiously to avoid giving any leeway.

The minor pieces changed hands and when Karjakin traded the queens after which there was nothing left to fight for. The Russian proposed the draw that was accepted. The game lasted 44 moves.
 

B Adhiban

Adhiban missed out on gaining the lead. Fier came up with the Noteboom variation where the Indian opted for the razor-sharp Marshall gambit. Very early in the opening, Fier decided to part with his rook for a minor piece. In established theory that was quite unplayable and the Brazilian was soon under pressure.

The game, however, took a different route and Adhiban as a result spent a lot of time in the middle game, thereby falling a little under time pressure. Sensing trouble, the Indian proposed a draw after just 20 moves which Fier gladly accepted.

After a few surprises in the opener, most of the higher ranked players got off to a good start in the first game of second round in this USD 1.6 million knock-out event.

The day saw top players like Alexander Morozevich and Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Gata Kamsky of United States, Anish Giri of Holland and Fabiano Caruana of Italy registering victories over lower rated opponents.

Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru

Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru, however, sprang a major surprise defeating Hungarian Peter Leko. Isan Ortiz Suarez from Cuba suddenly lost to French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a position with a huge advantage.

Alexander Morozevich blundered in a winning position but his opponent Rafael Leitao didn't see the winning shot and instead lost. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov didn’t convert a huge advantage against Maxim Matlakov, while Wang Hao got a three-time repetition in a lost position. Local hero Jon Ludvig Hammer, who defeated Sergey Movsesian in the previous round, drew with David Navara in a game where he had a better position, although it wasn't winning as he'd thought after the game.

Some players preferred not to take any risks in the first game and didn’t mind a short draw. Peace agreements were signed relatively quickly in the games Dubov-Ponomariov, Bacrot-Moiseenko, Jakovenko-Eljanov, and Lysyj-Aronian (pictured above). The others fought for many hours but the positions remained balanced in the Kobalia-Kramnik and Svidler-Bologan games.

In the 12 decisive games the victories for White outnumbered Black by 10 to 2. Only Vassily Ivanchuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won with the black pieces.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a winning position but lost his advantage in one move.
"Seems I’m getting old if I cannot win such positions," Mamedyarov wrote on his Facebook page.

The World Chess Cup is a part of the next World Championship cycle. The event started with 128 players but half of them were knocked out after the first round, including Parimarjan Negi and G Akash of India.

Each round, except the final, is a mini-match of two games followed by encounters of shorter duration in case of tied result.

Important and Indian results of Round 2 game 1:Igor Lysyj (RUS) drew with Levon Aronian (ARM); Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) beat So Wesley (PHI); Alexander Morozevich (RUS) beat Rafael Leitao (GER); Gata Kamsky (USA) beat Aleksandr Shimanov (RUS); Alexei Shirov (LAT) drew with Wei Yi (CHN); Alexander Grischuk (RUS) beat Dariusz Swiercz (POL); Krishnan Sasikiran (IND) drew with Sergey Karjakin (RUS); Fabiano Caruana (ITA) beat Yu Yangyi (CHN); Julio Granda Zuniga (PER) beat Peter Leko (HUN); Anish Giri (NED) beat Li Chao (CHN); Leinier Dominguez Perez (CUB) beat Alexander Onischuk (USA); Ray Robson (USA) lost to Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) beat Eltaj Safarli (AZE); B Adhiban (IND) drew with Alexandr Fier (BRA); Anotn Korobov (UKR) beat Baadur Jobava (GEO).

Watch all the games live at the official website of the World Chess Cup 2013. (Photos: Anastasiya Karlovich)

Read more »

Norway Chess R2: Carlsen, Anand Draw

SANDNES: World champion Viswanathan Anand won the psychological battle holding his world championship challenger Magnus Carlsen of Norway to an easy draw in the second round of the Norway Chess 2013 Super tournament in progress here.

The much awaited clash turned out to be a full entertainer to the audience as Carlsen tried but could not make much use of his white pieces in a keenly contested game arising out of a Sicilian defence.

Both Carlsen and Anand inched to one point out of a possible two in the 10-player round-robin tournament following a draw in the opener too.

The other game to end early was a damp squib between former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan while Levon Aronian came up with a fine effort to outclass Hikaru Nakamura of United States.

In the other two games Sergey Karjakin crashed through the defences of Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and, in a surprise, Peter Svidler of Russia was outdone by Wang Hao of China.

After the end of the second round, Karjakin emerged as sole leader with a perfect two points out of a possible two and he is now followed by Aronian a half point behind.

Anand, Svidler, Nakamura, Calrsen, Topalov and Wang Hao share the fourth spot on one point each while Radjabov is ninth with ahalf point in his kitty. With seven rounds still to come, Hammer is at the bottom of the tables, yet to open his account.

Anand went for the principled Sicilian defence against Carlsen. The Norwegian had beaten Anand in the Moscow variation last time out and he stuck to the same but Anand was much better prepared this time. While the position remained equal Carlsen still had that nagging advantage he wanted to encash and Anand had to be precise in the defence even though it was not too difficult.

A rook and knight endgame was reached early and thereafter all Anand had to do was to get rid of the pawns off the board. The game was drawn with Carlsen having an extra knight but no pawns on the board on move 59.

Aronian crushed Nakamura out of an exchange Slav that speaks volumes about the world No 3. The position was about level out of the opening but the Armenian obviously had more ideas.

Nakamura thought he was fine when giving white a queen side pawn majority but he was proven wrong in the endgame as Aronian made most of it. In the end, the American fought vainly after losing a rook for lmost nothing. As it happened, nothing came of it and he had to resign after 70 moves.

Wang Hao played the game of the day outwitting Svidler in his pet Grunfeld. The Chinese was in command early in the opening and did not falter even while reaching an advantageous end-game.

Hammer lost with white which is certain to dent his confidence. Karjakin did everything right after getting a better endgame and won in 54 moves. (PTI)

Results: Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 1) drew with V Anand (Ind, 1); Veselin Topalov (Bul, 1) drew with Teimour Radjabov (Aze, 0.5); Levon Aronian (Arm, 1.5) beat Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 1); Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor, 0) lost to Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 1); Wang Hao (Chn, 1) beat Peter Svidler (Rus, 1).

Read more »

Norway Chess Round 1

SANDNES: World champion Viswanthan Anand could do little with white pieces as his opponent Levon Aronian of Armenia held him to an easy draw in the first round of Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that got underway in Sandnes.

It turned out to be rather sedate Anand who has got a tough draw in the tournament. White pieces against most of the top seeds and black against lower ranked players means that the Indian ace has to be in top form to deliver the goods and in the opener Aronian was not troubled much.

Sergey Karjakin of Russia continued from where he had left -- winning the blitz drawing of lots -- and put it across Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan whose woes continued after falling hugely in the world ranking.

Norwegian world number one Magnus Carlsen, who is set to play Anand in the next round as well as in the next world championship match in Chennai, could not do more than splitting the point with former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

The other two games in the high category 10-player round-robin tournament, however, were decisive as Russian Peter Svidler scored a lucky win over Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and Hikaru Nakamura proved smarter than Wang Hao of China.

After the end of the first round, Nakamura, Karjakin and Svidler emerged as early leaders with a full point and Anand, Aronian, Topalov and Carlsen are close behind with a half point each. The three losers are on the bottom of the table.

Anand went for the closed Ruy Lopez as white and his strategy did not yield desirable result. Aronian was well armed in the opening and as many as three minor pieces changed hands by 13th move itself.

The resulting middle game with more heavy pieces was not dry but the presence of opposite coloured Bishops did not give any chance to either player. After a bit of a shadow-boxing, the peace was signed on move 33.

Radjabov slipped further after a dismal show in the last candidates tournament as he fell prey to a finely crafted manoeuvre by Karjakin in the middle game arising out of an off-beat Sicilian.

Playing white, the Russian sensed his chances perfectly in the middle game and his 26th move was a clincher leading to a winning endgame.

Svidler was only trying to equalize a pawn less endgame against Hammer out of a Grunfeld defence when the Norwegian number two started to make a lot of mistakes. Launching his double rook on the seventh rank, the Russian won a handful of pawns to turn the tables.

In the other decisive game of the day, Nakamura won two pieces for a rook with a sortie against Wang Hao to get a winning endgame. The Chinese had gone for the solid Petroff defence which did not come good as black.

Carlsen played a solid English opening as white but got nothing against Topalov who is in top form the game was drawn after 51 moves. (PTI)

Results Round 1: Viswanathan Anand (Ind) drew with Levon Aronian (Arm); Magnus Carlsen(Nor) drew with Veselin Topalov (Bul); Sergey Karjakin (Rus) beat Teimour Radjabov (Aze); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa) beat Wang Hao (Chn); Peter Svidler (Rus) beat Jon Ludvig Hammer (Nor).

Read more »

Norway Chess Super Event Begins

SANDES: World champion Viswanathan Anand will take on Levon Aronian of Armenia in the first round of the Norway Chess 2013 super tournament that gets underway in Sandes.

Anand secured five whites in the nine-round tournament by finishing joint second in the blitz event that was played to prepare the drawing of lots.

The top five contestants in the blitz tournament will get five white and four black games in the 10-player event which is also one of the strongest ever.

The much-awaited clash between Anand and Norway's world number one Magnus Carlsen will happen as early as in the second round and the latter will get to play white in that encounter.

Carlsen, who had expressed his disappointment at Chennai being the awarded the hosting rights of the next world championship match between him and Anand, said he will not let that news "diminish the joy and excitement derived from playing the top level Norway chess tournament".

For Anand, apart from the clash with Carlsen, it will also be a real test against a very high quality opposition.

The event also boast of participation of world number four and former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria who is fresh from a fantastic victory in the Grand Prix tournament.

Sergey Karjakin and Peter Svidler of Russia and Hikaru Nakamura of United States are the other players, who are a big force to reckon with while Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan will look forward to regain his touch.

Wang Hao of China and local talent Jon Ludvig Hammer complete the line-up of the 10-player tournament to be played on a round-robin basis.

For the Indian ace it has been a decent start to the competition.

The blitz tournament was taken quite seriously by Anand, whose joint second finish was a good result even though he suffered a shocking loss at the hands of lowest-ranked Hammer.

Sergey Karjakin won the tournament scoring 6.5 points while Anand, Carlsen and Nakamura were tied for the second spot a half point behind.

Svidler finished fifth on 5.5 points after losing the last round against Carlsen. Topalov was completely off-colour in the blitz, finishing last with just one point from nine games while Aronian was another surprise for the spectators as he ended ninth scoring 2.5 points. (PTI)

Pairings round 1: V Anand (IND) vs Levon Aronian (ARM); Magnus Carlsen (NOR) vs Veselin Topalov (BUL); Hikaru Nakamura (USA) vs Wang Hao (CHN); Peter Svidler (RUS) vs Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR); Sergey Karjakin (RUS) vs Teimour Radjabov (AZE).

Read more »

Tata Steel Chess: Anand Finishes Joint Third, Carlsen Claims Crown

Levon Aronian congratulates Magnus Carlsen (right) as World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand looks on. (Photo: Tata Steel Chess Press)

World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking last-round defeat against Wang Hao of China and had to be content with a joint third finish at the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands. 

Having done decently so far, Anand ran out of steam in the last round and was outplayed by Wang Hao. Anand remained at sixth spot in the world rankings and stands to gain seven rating points from his efforts.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway completed the formalities of winning the crown after surviving a scare against Anish Giri of Holland. Carlsen was pushed to the wall but salvaged a half point to match Garry Kasparov's best ever 10 points out of a possible 13 in this tournament.

Levon Aronian of Armenia ended second on 8.5 points after a draw with out-of-sort Fabiano Caruana of Italy. Anand with eight points in all tied for the third spot with the other winner of the day -- Sergey Karjakin of Russia.

After a spate of draws in the last round, Peter Leko of Hungary finished fifth on 7.5 points, half a point more than Hikaru Nakamura of United States who played out a draw with P Harikrishna in his final round game.

Read more »

Magnus Carlsen Wins Sao Paulo-Bilbao Chess Masters; Vallejo-Pons Announces Retirement

The world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen has won tonight in Sao-Paulo Bilbao Chess Masters Final on Saturday night. The first section was played in the last week of September in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo. The Norwegian Grandmaster's victory comes after a thrilling tiebreak played against Italian Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana. 

The direct duel between the top two players after 10 rounds was scheduled after both Carlsen and Caruana drew their games with Levon Aronian and Francisco Vallejo respectively. Carlsen went into the tiebreaks as a clear favourite. Carlsen confirmed his superiority in the Alhondiga Bilbao by winning both the games of the tiebreak.


Final standings:
• Magnus Carlsen: 17 points (champion)
• Fabiano Caruana: 17 points.
• Levon Aronian: 11 points.
• Sergei Karjakin: 10 points
• Viswanathan Anand: 9 points.
• Francisco Vallejo: 6 points.

Read more »

World Blitz Chess Champion 2012 is Alexander Grischuk of Russia

Russia continues to rule the chess world. Not only the World Rapid Chess Champion 2012 belongs to them, but now even the World Blitz Chess Champion 2012. Alexander Grischuk won the World Blitz Chess Champion 2012 title in Astana, Kazakhstan on Monday - half-a-point ahead of World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. 

Read more »

Carlsen 'Chuks' It; Karjakin is World Rapid Chess Champion 2012

World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen going into the third day at the Astana World Rapid Chess Championship 2012 'chuk'ed his title win with back-to-back losses to Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexander Grischuk in the 12th and 13th rounds. In fact, he came close to losing the last round as well against Veselin Topalov.

The three winners: Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria (third), Sergey Karjakin of Russia (World Champion) and Magnus Carlsen (second).

Russia's Sergey Karjakin - with only one loss to Magnus Carlsen - steady performance and quality chess is the new World Rapid Chess Champion. Karjakin quickly got over his Carlsen debacle to post four wins on the final day!  

Read more »

World Rapid Chess Championship Day 1 Today: Karjakin, Carlsen Lead After Five Rounds

The world's best players are in Astana for the first-ever World Rapid Chess Championship that began today in Kazakhstan. Five rounds were played on the first day of the tournament. Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen both notched up four wins and a draw each to lead the field with 4.5 points each.

Karjakin's wins came against Gelfand, Tkachiev, Ismgambetov and Grischuk plus a draw against Topalov in round 5. Carlsen picked up wins against Kazhgaleyev, Morozevich, Bologan, Kurnosov and a draw against Svidler in the third round.

Read more »

Swell Chess Video Interview with 2012 US Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura

The chess future is about Nakamura, Carlsen, and Karjakin! Nakamura looks out for pretty girls when he looks up from his chess board while playing...!
Gary Kasparov...!

You will find these and other interesting comments by the US Chess Champion 2012 Hikaru Nakamura in this great indepth interview with Jennifer Shahade. Surely a chess video not to be missed.

Read more »