London Chess Grand Prix Round 1: Naka Loses to Gelfand; Others Draw

The London Chess Grand Prix has begun and the first day saw all exciting games even though there were draws except one. Here is the Round 1 Report by Grandmaster Robert Fontaine:

The first round of the World Chess Grand Prix in London started at 2 pm local time with the first move played by the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. Most of the games started smoothly and the Chinese player Wang Hao was playing very quickly the first 20 moves, with still 1h56 on his clock. His opponent, British number one Michael Adams who replaced GM Peter Svidler at the last minute. Adams took his time to fully equalize after exchanging the Queens. Adams was pushing the whole game, got a pawn up in a rook endgame but it was not enough to win. Draw. 

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World Chess Grand Prix London Launched in Grand Style

Model Lily Cole takes on Veselin Topalov, the top Bulgarian Grandmaster in a 10 minute 'blitz' chess game.

FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov presided at last night’s opening ceremony for the World Chess Grand Prix London at Somerset House. The evening was hosted by Andrew Paulson of Agon, the new rights holder to the World Chess Championship Cycle, who thanked Vladimir Palikhata, the president of the Moscow Chess Federation, for supporting the reception. Headed his appreciation to FIDE for according him the commercial rights to the World Chess Championship Cycle.

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Women's Chess Grand Prix in Ankara: Humpy Begins With Win

India's talented chess player Koneru Humpy, second seed at the 6th Women's Chess Grand Prix, began with a win in Ankara, Turkey on Sunday. Humpy played a flawless game with Black to beat Turkey's Betul Yildiz. This edition is the final stage of the Fide Women's Grand Prix Series 2011-12. It is being held from September 16-28 in the Turkish Chess Federation building. The winner receives 6,500 euros out of a prize fund of 40,000 euros for the event. 

 

Humpy (right) showing her game against Betul at the press conference after the first round.

Somehow, women's chess always turns out to be more fighting than men's chess. Even the draws were fought till the last on each chess board! Only two games were drawn: Chinese players Ruan Lufei and Zhao Xue won their games Kubra Ozturk and Antoaneta Stefanova respectively. 

 

Top seed Anna Muzychuk

Their Chinese colleague, Ju Wenjun, drew with top seed Anna Muzychuk. Viktorija Cmilyte won over Monika Socko and Betul Yildiz. The longest game of the first round between Munguntuul Batkhuyag and Tatiana Kosintseva finished in a draw after 76 moves.

You can watch the games live at the official website from 5.30 pm India time. Rest day: September 20th (after round 4) and September 25th (after round 8).  (Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich)

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Determined Chess Girl Ashley Tapp: Can You Help her Get to World Youth Chess Championship?

How many 12-year-olds would you find working night and day to fulfill a difficult dream? How many 12-year-olds can you spot who have the determination of Ashley Tapp? Here is her interesting and inspiring story:

This young Canadian chess player is trying to raise funds all by herself for her journey to the World Youth Chess Championship in Slovenia this November, 2012. In the last few days, Ashley has been in the news in every major Canadian newspaper, radio interviews, Global LIVE TV, top chess blogs in the world. She's playing chess everywhere - in the market, on the street, at exhibitions... all to raise money for her trip to the world championship.

Moreover, Ashley's campaign is special for another reason. Her crusade is not just about her chess trip. It's also about supporting chess for children, chess in Canada and promoting health and fitness for kids and youngsters! Ashley's mom Sophia told Chess Magazine B&W. "At the WYCC in Slovenia 100 countries will compete and 1,500 children will be playing chess. This is a great opportunity for any chess player." Sophia said, "Ashley finished second at a national championship and earned herself the right to play in November’s World Youth Chess Championship in Slovenia. Parents in Canada have to carry the entire financial burden; they have to pay high tournament fees."

Ashley playing in the market to raise funds for her chess championship trip.

There is no sponsorship for this little girl to go as Canada does not recognise Chess as a sport. Can this little girl change all that? She has played chess in the streets to raise funds outside the art gallery, to Chapters bookstore and now in the PNE, Canada's largest ticketed event, a historic move by the PNE.

Can you help sponsor Ashley? Donate via Ashley's website. Giver her a Facebook Like and ask friends. Follow her on twitter.

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Women's Chess Grand Prix: Koneru Humpy Begins Quest Sept 15

GM Koneru Humpy

India's highest-ever rated woman chess player and only World Chess title challenger Koneru Humpy will begin a new quest at the sixth Women's Chess Grand Prix 2011-12 cycle on September 15. The sixth in the series is a round-robin event and runs from September 15-29 in Ankara, Turkey. Reigning women's world chess champion Hou Yifan won the first two women's chess grand prix events in the series in Rostov and Shenzen. Zhao Xue of China won the third in Nalchik. Konery Humpy and Anna Muzychuk were joint winners in Kazan, while Hou Yifan won again in Jermuk.

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Istanbul Chess Olympiad: Indian Men Finish 35th, Women 4th! Abhijeet Gupta Wins Individual Silver; Tania Sachdev Wins Individual Bronze

Armenia is World Chess Olympiad Champions 2012

Photos: David Llada, Arman Karakhanyan

The last round at the 40th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul was as exciting as it could get with the results being decided with tiebreaks after all the final games were played! Indian men finished with the 35th place below their seeding of ninth. Indian women finished with the fourth place above their seeding of sixth. National Champion Abhijeet Gupta picked up an individual Silver Medal as board prize for the fourth board. Tania Sachdev picked up an individual bronze medal as board prize for the third board.

Indian women on their way to beating France in the last round and finishing fourth at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad.

The Final round saw India lose to Azerbaijan with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beating Pentala Harikrishna. All other boards were draw. Indian women beat France in an exciting match.

Bo.	7	Azerbaijan (AZE)	Rtg	-	13	India (IND)	Rtg	2½:1½
9.1	GM	Safarli, Eltaj	2620	-	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	2707	½ - ½
9.2	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	2729	-	GM	Harikrishna, Pentala	2685	1 - 0
9.3	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	2634	-	GM	Negi, Parimarjan	2664	½ - ½
9.4	GM	Guseinov, Gadir	2613	-	GM	Gopal, Geetha Narayanan	2550	½ - ½

Bo.	14	France (FRA)	Rtg	-	6	India (IND)	Rtg	1½:2½
4.1	IM	Skripchenko, Almira	2442	-	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	2503	0 - 1
4.2	IM	Milliet, Sophie	2411	-	IM	Sachdev, Tania	2379	½ - ½
4.3	WGM	Maisuradze, Nino	2284	-	WGM	Gomes, Mary Ann	2396	1 - 0
4.4	WIM	Bollengier, Andreea	2253	-	WGM	Soumya, Swaminathan	2271	0 - 1

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