It’s time for a chess entry! One of my favourite players, Ivanchuk is again playing and how can I miss this man if he’s playing! One other favourite is Kamsky, although I haven’t played through more than a few games of him. Kamsky is an American player. I like the opening ceremony pics! They look spectacular! On the official site you can see even more. I think the players must have enjoyed all the attention they got from those beautiful girls! Boris Spassky has been invited to comment the games of these chess masters in this FIDE Grand Prix Tournament. Click on the image-link for live games. All links will open in a new window. Click on images for a larger view.
Please click HERE for the Official site of Nalchik 2009.
Fourth FIDE Grand Prix in Nalchik – The fourth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament has started on the 14th April and will continue till the 29th April in the Intour Hotel Sindica in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia. The fourteen participants include Ivanchuk, Aronian, Mamedyarov, Leko, Kamsky, Svidler, Karjakin and Grischuk. Average rating: around 2725 points. The total prize fund is 162,000 Euros.
The fourth FIDE Grand Prix will be the strongest in the series, and one of the strongest tournaments of the world this year. New functions on the FIDE website allow us to see the current rating changes of top-grandmasters. The average rating of the tournament in Nalchik will be around 2725 points based on the April 2009 list to be published soon. Previously the highest average rated tournament was held in the third stage of the series, Elista (2715 points).
The top-rated player of the competition is the World Cup 2005 and Olympiad winner Levon Aronian. Two players have also shown excellent results this year: Alexander Grischuk – the winner of the Linares and Elista super tournaments, and Sergey Karjakin, who won the Corus tournament in January in Wijk aan Zee. The World Cup 2007 winner Gata Kamsky this year has shown also a good performance during the Challenge match against Veselin Topalov. The tournament is so evenly balanced that every one of the 14 participants who comes to Nalchik is in a good position to win the tournament. Resource: Chessbase. All pictures of players in this post are from the official site.
Ivanchuk
Ivanchuk vs Svidler
Kamsky vs Bacrot (from France)
Boris Spassky, an old “friend” of Bobby Fischer.
All the players
Image: Chessbase
The entry hall of Hotel “Sindica”, where the games of the Grand Prix are being played.
Image: Chessbase
The city of Nalchik is situated at an altitude of 550 meters (1,804 ft) in the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. It covers an area of 131 square kilometers (50.6 sq mi). Population: 275,000. The city is named after the Nalchik River, on the shores of which it is located. The word “Nalchik” literally means “small horseshoe” in Kabardian – it is a diminutive of nal, the Turkic and Turkish word for “horseshoe”. Nalchik was chosen the “second cleanest city of Russia” in 2003….Chessbase
Schedule
Round 5 results: click on the image for a clear view
Standings after round 5
Nalchik Round 9 Ivanchuk vs Akopian end position 1/2
Nalchik Round 9 Grischuk vs Kamsky end position 0-1
Nalchik Round 9 Bacrot vs Mamedyarov end position 1-0
Nalchik Round 9 Gelfand vs Aronian end position 1/2
Nalchik Standings after round 9 – click on images for a larger view
Nalchik Pairings round 10 and round 11 – click on images for a clear view
Nalchik Pairings round 12 and round 13
Nalchik Round 13 – Bacrot vs Alekseev – final position
Nalchik Round 13 – Gelfand vs Sergey – final position
Nalchik 2009 : Final standings – click on images for a larger view
Chessalee 