León Chess 2011

Please click HERE for the official website.

Vishy Anand, current World Champion and seven times winner of the Magistral, comes back to Leon to face the strongest Spanish player, Alexei Shirov, on the 24th edition. This tournament is already a classic, one of the most prestigious in the chess calendar.

Anand and Shirov will play in Leon with a large audio-visual setting that will allow the public to “see the chess stars thinking”, thanks to big screens and live audio comments (by GM Illescas, eight times Spanish champion) and IM Michael Rahal.

The rules, written by the prestigious arbiter Joaquin Espejo, indicate that Anand and Shirov will play six games (Friday to Sunday, two per day) with 45 minutes per side plus Thirty seconds increment after each move in the magnificent León Auditorium. If needed, there will eventually be a tie-break of several five minute games.

SCHEDULE
Thursday, June 2nd
PLAYERS ARRIVAL – 20.00 Drawing of lots, CONDE LUNA HOTEL.
Friday, June 3rd
GAMES 1 AND 2 (16.30), LEON AUDITORIUM.
Saturday, June 4th
GAMES 3 AND 4 (16.30), LEON AUDITORIUM.
Sunday, June 5th
GAMES 5 and 6 (16.30) and, eventually, tie-breaks, LEON AUDITORIUM.
Monday, June 6th – Prize giving 14:30
Simuls (17.30), LEON UNIVERSITY.

Game 1 Anand vs Shirov:1/2

Game 2- Anand vs Shirov : 1-0
Click HERE to play through their games.

Game 3 – Anand vs Shirov 1-0

Game 4 Anand vs Shirov – 1/2

Game 5- Anand vs Shirov

Game 5 – Anand vs Shirov 1/2

I love this next picture which I put together in Fireworks – it is a combination of about 10 different images.

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Plovdiv 2010

GM Alexei Shirov and Michael Adams – photo:ECC2010Chessdom

The European Club Cup 2010 is now on in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Some of my old favourite players are playing. Although time is little to follow the tournament, I will make an effort over the coming weekend to check out more of the games. Shirov is an old time favourite and Michael Adams – an English player I saw in action December, is also an upcoming favourite of mine.  Click HERE for the Official site and for results and live games.

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MTel Masters 2009

 If you have thought you’ve seen all the “big game” of the Chess World the past week on my blog…then you haven’t seen these “Chess Engines” of the Chess World. These guys look very serious and I think they mean it serious when it comes to chess. Shirov is currently playing in Azerbaijan too! Topalov will again have a blindfolded game – like last year. Ivanchuk is last year’s winner, wonder what will happen this year. On the official site you can read more player info by clicking on their images.
Click HERE to read the interview with Topalov about his chess.

Please click HERE for the Official site. On my blog’s side bar (top right) you will find the link to LIVE-games. All images: Ivan A. Grigorov for mtelmasters

Vassily Ivanchuk, is a Ukrainian Grandmaster. His an ELO of 2787 on the FIDE January 2008 list, making him number 9 in the World and Ukraine’s number one. He played board one on the victorious Ukraine team at the 2004 Calvia Olympiad. As of November 2007 he is the World Blitz Chess champion.

World Champion to comment M-Tel Masters
 The World Champion in chess Antoaneta Stefanova will comment the games from the fifth edition of the super chess tournament M-Tel Masters. The competition will start on 12 May. For the title up to 23 May will compete the leader in the world ranking Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen from Norway, the last year’s winner Vassily Ivanchuk from Ukraine, Leinier Dominguez from Cuba, Alexei Shirov from Spain and Yue Wang from China. The average ELO of the participants is 2755, which makes the tournament FIDE 21st category. Only five tournaments in history have been of that rank so far.

Bulgaria’s all time strongest female player won the chess crown at the World Championship in Elista in 2004. She is currently fourth in the ladies’ world ranking with an ELO of 2549.

The commentator’s place of Stefanova will be meters away from glass pavilion where the games from the tournament will be played. Her guests will be Bulgarian GMs and after each game she will be able to analyze the game with the participants.

The comments and analysis of Stefanova will be heard also online in real time on the web site of the tournament  www. mtelmasters.com. The games from the tournament will start every day at 16:00 local time, only the last round’s games will begin at 15:00.

The Venue: A glass pavilion on the square in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov – image: Official site

The first move made by the mayor of Sofia. MTel has started.

The Glass house where the tournament is taking place – in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov

Topalov played a game blindfolded.

Players ready for round 1

The first move..by the mayor of Sofia.

The Mtel Chess Masters Round 2- Images: Mtel Official site

Shirov vs Topalov Round 2 move 7

Shirov vs Topalov Round 2 end position 1/2

Ivanchuk vs Wang round 2 move 7

Ivanchuk vs Wang round 2 end position 0-1

Dominguez vs Carlsen round 2 move 7

Dominguez vs Carlsen round 2 end position 1/2

 Round 3

Magnus Carlsen - Images: MTel

Wang vs Shirov

MTel Chess Round 3 Wang vs Shirov end position 1/2

MTel Chess Round 3 Carlsen vs Ivanchuk move 41

MTel Chess Round 3 Topalov vs Dominguez move 41

Carlsen vs Ivanchuk

Topalov

Pairings Rounds: 4-5-6

 Round 4 – Results: 16th May 2009

Round 4 Carlsen vs Shirov move 7

Round 4 Carlsen vs Shirov end position

Round 4 Dominguez vs Ivanchuk move 7

Round 4 Dominguez vs Ivanchuk end position

Round 4 Topalov vs Wang move 7

Round 4 Topalov vs Wang end position

In both problems white moves and mates in two moves

See the “news”-link on the official site for Kostadinov’s Challenge. You can send your solution to him, his email is on the link too.

Round 5: 17th May 2009

Topalov – round 5

Supporters follow the games outside the glass house

Round 5 Ivanchuk vs Topalov move 7

Round 5 Ivanchuk vs Topalov move 22

Round 5 Ivanchuk vs Topalov move 30

Round 5 Ivanchuk vs Topalov move 44

 

Chess football – results- MTel-United 8!

Players played football on their day of rest. This is the evidence to show chess players are good at football too!

Round 6: Results

Round 6: Dominguez vs Wang 1/2

 

Round 6 Topalov vs Carlsen move 7

Round 6 Topalov vs Carlsen move 21

Round 6 Topalov vs Carlsen end position 1/2

Round 6 Shirov vs Ivanchuk 1-0

Round 6: Shirov and Topalov

Results: Round 7

Topalov vs Shirov – 1/2

Carlsen vs Dominguez – 1-0

Wang vs Ivanchuk – 1/2

Results: Round 8

[Event “5th M-Tel Masters round_8”]
[Site “Sofia BUL”]
[Date “2009.05.21”]
[Round “8.1”]
[White “Shirov, Alexei”]
[Black “Wang, Yue”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “E04”]
[WhiteElo “2745”]
[BlackElo “2738”]
[PlyCount “87”]
[EventDate “2009.05.13”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “BUL”]
[EventCategory “21”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Qa4 Bd7 8. Qxc4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Rc8 10. Nc3 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 Bc5 12. Qh4 O-O 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 16. Bxb7 Rb8 17. Bf3 Rxb2 18. Rfd1 Be8 19. Ne4 Be7 20. Nd6 Bxd6 21. Rxd6 Bb5 22. Kf1 Rb8 23.a4 Bc4 24. Rc1 Rb1 25. Rd8+ Kg7 26. Rxb8 Rxc1+ 27. Kg2 Rc2 28. Rc8 Bb3 29. Rxc2 Bxc2 30. a5 f5 31. Bh5 Kf6 32. f4 Ke7 33. Kh3 Be4 34. Kh4 Kf6 35. h3 Kg7 36. e3 Bd3 37. Bf3 Bc2 38. g4 fxg4 39. hxg4 f6 40. Bc6 Bd1 41. Bd7 Kf7 42. Bc8 Be2 43. Bd7 Bd1 44. Bc8 1/2-1/2

[Event “5th M-Tel Masters round_8”]
[Site “Sofia BUL”]
[Date “2009.05.21”]
[Round “8.2”]
[White “Ivanchuk, Vassily”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “B77”]
[WhiteElo “2746”]
[BlackElo “2770”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “2009.05.13”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “BUL”]
[EventCategory “21”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. h4 a5 13. a4 bxa4 14. Bxa4 h5 15.O-O Rb8 16. Bxd7 Nxd7 17. b3 Bxd4+ 18. Qxd4 Qb6 19. Qxb6 Nxb6 20. Nd1 Rfc8 21.Ne3 Ra8 22. Ra2 a4 23. Rfa1 axb3 24. Rxa8 Nxa8 25. cxb3 Nb6 26. Ra7 Rc3 27. Kf2 e6 28. Rb7 Rxb3 29. Nc4 Rxf3+ 30. gxf3 Nxc4 31. Rb4 d5 32. exd5 exd5 33. Rb8+ Kg7 34. Rd8 Kf6 35. Rxd5 Ke6 36. Rb5 Nd6 37. Ra5 Nf5 38. Ra6+ Ke5 39. Ra5+ Ke6 40. Ra6+ Ke5 41. Ra5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event “5th M-Tel Masters round_8”]
[Site “Sofia BUL”]
[Date “2009.05.??”]
[Round “8.3”]
[White “Dominguez Perez, Leinier”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “B81”]
[WhiteElo “2721”]
[BlackElo “2812”]
[PlyCount “86”]
[EventDate “2009.05.13”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventCountry “BUL”]
[EventCategory “21”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 Be7 8. Bg2
Nfd7 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd2 Nde5 11. b3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 O-O 13. O-O-O b5 14. Ne2 Bb7 15. f4 Ng6 16. Rhf1 e5 17. Be3 exf4 18. Nxf4 Ne5 19. Kb1 Rc8 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Bh4 22. g5 Re8 23. Bf3 g6 24. Bg4 Rc7 25. Bb6 Qb8 26. Bxc7 Qxc7 27. Be2 Qd8 28. Rg1 Qb6 29. Qf4 Bf2 30. Rg2 Be3 31. Qe4 Re7 32. Qb4 Rc7 33. h4 Bc5 34.Qe4 Qa5 35. Rg3 Bf2 36. Rh3 h5 37. gxh6 f5 38. Qf4 Rxc2 39. Kxc2 Qxa2+ 40. Kc1 Qa1+ 41. Kc2 Qa2+ 42. Kc1 Qa1+ 43. Kc2 Qa2+ 1/2-1/2

Ivanchuk and Carlsen after round 8

Standings after round 8

Results: Round 9

Round 9 Topalov vs Ivanchuk move 21 – 1-0

Round 9 Carlsen vs Wang end position – 1-0

Round 9 Dominguez vs Shirov – 1/2

Players at MTel round 9

Final round: Ivanchuk vs Dominguez final position 1-0

Final round: Shirov vs Carlsen final position 1-0

Final round: Wang vs Topalov final position 1/2

MTel Masters 2009: Final rankings

Carlsen and Shirov

Shirov, winner of MTel Masters 2009

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Azerbaijan vs Fide World

The Old City Wall in Baku

The Maiden Tower – Baku 

Fortress Gate – image: wikitravel – a different view

Image: Wikipedia
 
The two teams’ photos in the glass front of the theatre where they’re playing

Image: Chessbase

Azerbaijan vs Fide World 7-9 May 2009 in Baku

How is it possible to mis good chess! The world’s big champs play in this tournament and Baku is my favourite chess city! Braam…I hope you’re reading this…I know you live in Baku!

Please click here to follow the games LIVE.
For the official site, click here , links will open in new windows. Click on images for a larger view and follow the official site to see more player-info of the players that are taking part in this tournament. All images are from the official site.

The opening ceremony of “President’s Cup” tournament, that is devoted to great national leader Heydar Aliyev’s memory, will hold in “UNS” (creative stage) theatre at 05:00 p.m. in 07 May, 2009, the tournament will also hold there from 07 May till 09 May 2009.

The World champion Vishvanatan Anand (Indian), vice-champion Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), the finalist of the latest World’s Cup – Aleksey Shirov (Spain), and the winner of the latest authoritative tournament Veyk-ann-Zee – Sergey Karyakin (Ukraine) have taken part in the world team which will be hold by the “Sheveningen” system.

Teymur Radjabov, Vugar Hashimov, Shahriyar Mamedyarov, Gadir Huseynov and Rauf Mamedov will compete in the Azerbaijan team against them.
The first day of the biggest chess event in the history of Azerbaijani sport – the Presidential Cup tournament in commemoration of Haydar Aliyev, the National Leader of Azerbaijan, left behind. Two rounds of the match between FIDE’s World picked team and Azerbaijani picked team were played in the building of Uns theater.

The impression from the first round was very positive. Teymur Rajabov tied with Vishvanatan Anand, and Vuqar Hasimov tied with Ex World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. The only win of the day was signed by Shahriyar Mammedyarov. He defeated the Spanish grandmaster Alexei Shirov. Qadir Huseynov who found himself in a very difficult situation has managed to take half point from the Ukrainian Sergey Karyakin due to right moves in the endgame.

The picked team of the world showed itself in the second round. Qadir and Vuqar were defeated by Shirov and Anand respectively. Teymur who played agains Kramnik and Shahriyar who played ahainst Karyakin gained half point each.

There is no doubt that Vishvanatan Anand and and Shahriyar Mammadov were central figures of the first day.

Both players have managed to gain 1.5 points each – more than their colleagues. Shahriyar will also be remembered as the author of our first victory during the first round. He also put his sign under the only victory of our players.

Round 3. Kramnik defeat Huseynov

Round 3 was played today at the ” President’s Cup” international chess tournament dedicated to the memory of nationwide leader Haydar Aliyev. All the opponents, except Gadir Guseynov who lost to Viswanathan Anand, reached an accord amongst each other. Hence, points were shared in the games between World Champion Vishvanatan Anand vs. Shahriyar Mamedyarov, the leader of team of Azerbaijan Teymur Radjabov vs. Aleksey Shirov, and Sergey Karyakin vs. Vugar Gashimov, respectively. After the Round 3 FIDE World Team is leading with the score of 7-5.

Round 4. FIDE improve the margin
FIDE World team increased the points of margin in the round 4 through the performance in the “President’s Cup” international chess tournament dedicated to the memory of nationwide leader Haydar Aliyev. There was a substitution in this round in the team of Azerbaijan. Rauf Mamedov substituted by Gadir Huseynov who shared points equally with Indian Grand Master Vishwanatan Anand. The leader of the team of Azerbaijan Teymour Rajabov lost to the latest winner of the Veyk An Zee tournament –Sergei Karyakin. The same result was destined for Shahriyar Mamedyarov. The hero of the yesterday, Resistance pursued by “Shah” against Kramnik turned out to be a disappointment. The game played between Vugar Gashimov vs. Aleksey Shirov ended with “peace”. Winning by 1-3 in the round 4, FIDE World Team secured the points to 10, totaling 10 – 6. – Report from the official site.

Kramnik – Fide World Team

Anand – Fide World Team

Radjabov – Azerbaijan Team

 

Shirov – Azerbaijan Team

Schedule

Azerbaijan vs Fide World…round 4 – click on chess graphics for a clear view

Round 4: Karjakin vs Radjabov 1-0

Round 4 Gashimov vs Shirov 1/2

Round 4 Mamedov vs Anand 1/2

Round 4 Kramnik vs Mamedjarov 1-0

Results after the 2nd day of the tournament

Round 6: Gashimov vs Anand 0-1

Round 6: Kramnik vs Radjabov 1/2

Round 6: Guseinov vs Shirov End position 1/2

Round 6: Karjakin vs Mamedjarov End position 1/2

Results: Round 6

Anand vs Mamedov round 8 – End position 1-0

Radjabov vs Karjakin Round 8 End Position 1-0

Round 8 : results

Final standings: Fide World Team – 21,5 Azerbaijan Team – 10,5

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Chess, poetry art and music

Image: Chesscentral.com

I believe this is a good combination: chess, poetry, art and music! I’ve started recently reading Dean’s poetry blog and glad that I’ve discovered his blog. This poem in this post, is today’s entry on his blog and I’ve really enjoyed it and thought to share it with you. If you’re a lover of poetry, make sure to visit his blog, if you don’t, you will regret it! If you don’t like poetry, then you still should visit his blog and you will immediately fall in love with his poems! I have a present for you today too, let’s call it an early Christmas present if you like, a composition by Jim Brickman. Finally, for my chess-lovers (and those who think they might become chess-lovers!) I’ve got a few games here (do check back as I have about ten more to blog in this entry!) played a few days ago in the Dresden Olympiad. This post is almost as good as “wine women and song!”:) All links will open in a new window.

Remember me to the world
And all the beautiful girls
I never kissed; if there’s one regret
That is it: that I left any lovelies’
Lips unblessed, her heart repressed

Remember me to the wind, which
Blows wherever it goes; still, or not
Any feeling does not cost, but what you
Do with it: recall I am that
Innocent, awake to only wonder told

Remember me to the sun; the heat,
The blaze, worries public or hidden,
I have had them all, unbidden: most
Of all when you see that woman or girl,
Remember me, my dear, to the blessed world

©Dean J. Baker
To read more wonderful poetry, please click HERE to read on Dean Baker’s blog! Chess=love+poetry+music+art=chess!

Read more about Dean on his biography-link on his blog!

Over 500 poems and prose poems published since 1972 in over 130 literary publications in Canada, the USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, etc., such as Descant, Carleton Literary Review, Poetry WLU, The Prairie Journal, Freelance, Nexus, Bitterroot, Oxalis, Bogg, Aileron, RE:AL, Art Times, Pegasus, Impetus, On The Bus, and many others. More have been published in newspapers, magazines, online and in anthologies, recorded and paper.

Music: Jim Brickman: Dream comes true

Please click HERE to play through the game of Nyback from Finland vs Carlsen played in round 6, Dresden 2008.

Carlsen

Please click HERE to play through the game of Dominguez from Cuba vs Gata Kamsky in round 6, Dresden 2008.

This game of Etienne Bacrot was played in round 7 against Sasikiran from India.

Click HERE to play through the game of Boris Gelfand from Israel vs Elexei Shirov of Spain in round 7.

Please click HERE to play through the game of one of my favourite players, Ivanchuk vs Wang of China.

Ivanchuk

Click HERE to play through Kamsky’s game played in round 7 against Peter Leko.

Play through the game of Michael Adams against Radjabov played in round 7, Dresden.

Please click HERE to play through the game of Yelena Dembo, from Greece,  played in round 7 at the Olympiad.

Yelena Dembo

Please click HERE to play through the game of Cheparinov in round 8, Dresden.

To play through a game of Topalov played in round 8, click on the link!
Please click HERE to play through the game of David Howell from England played in round 9.

image: Greekchess.com..David Navara

Please click here to play through the game of David Navara played in round 9.

To play through the game of NIGEL SHORT, played in round 9, click on the link!

Image: chessbase..Nigel Short

Please click HERE to play through the game of Peter Svidler played in round 9 at the Dresden Olympiad in Germany.

Samuel Bak Chess Art. See my “chess humour”- page for more chess art from Samuel and his link.

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Aerosvit 2008 International Chess Tournament

Magnus Carlsen winner with a total of 8 and Ivanchuk in 2nd place with a total of 7 games.

 Image: http://ukrchess.org.ua/aerosvit2008/foto_e.htm

 

 

The final standings:
1	Carlsen	2765	*	1	½	1	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	8
2	Ivanchuk	2740	0	*	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	½	1	½	7
3	Karjakin	2732	½	½	*	½	0	1	½	½	½	1	½	½	6
4	Eljanov	2687	0	0	½	*	1	½	1	½	½	½	½	1	6
5	Volokitin	2684	½	½	1	0	*	0	½	1	½	½	0	1	5½
6	Jakovenko	2711	½	½	0	½	1	*	0	½	½	½	1	½	5½
7	Shirov	2740	0	0	½	0	½	1	*	½	1	0	1	1	5½
8	Alekseev	2711	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	*	1	1	0	½	5
9	Svidler	2746	½	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	*	½	½	1	5
10	Nisipeanu	2684	0	½	0	½	½	½	1	0	½	*	1	½	5
11	Van Wely	2677	0	0	½	½	1	0	0	1	½	0	*	½	4
12	Onischuk	2664	½	½	½	0	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	*	3½

Standings after round 7…source: Chessgames

Please click Chessgames here to follow the results of games and to play through games played on any particular day!

If you click on the link of CHESSCLUB you can watch the “game of the day” on a movie!

Round 11 : Final round…results

Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Van Wely, Loek
Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0 Eljanov, Pavel
Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Carlsen, Magnus
Volokitin, Andrei 1 – 0 Alekseev, Evgeny
Jakovenko, Dmitry ½ – ½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Onischuk, Alexander 0 – 1 Shirov, Alexei

Carlsen still leading!

Round 10 : Results

Van Wely, Loek 0 – 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½  Volokitin, Andrei
Alekseev, Evgeny ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Shirov, Alexei 1 – 0 Svidler, Peter

Round 9 results:

Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Van Wely, Loek
Volokitin, Andrei 0 – 1 Eljanov, Pavel
Jakovenko, Dmitry ½ – ½ Carlsen, Magnus
Onischuk, Alexander ½ – ½ Alekseev, Evgeny
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 1 – 0 Shirov, Alexei
Ivanchuk, Vassily ½ – ½ Svidler, Peter

Results: Round 8

Van Wely, Loek 1 – 0 Volokitin, Andrei
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Alekseev, Evgeny 1 – 0 Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Shirov, Alexei 0 – 1 Ivanchuk, Vassily

Round 7  results:

Jakovenko, Dmitry 1 – 0 Van Wely, Loek
Onischuk, Alexander 0 – 1 Eljanov, Pavel
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter 0 – 1 Carlsen, Magnus
Alekseev, Evgeny ½ – ½ Shirov, Alexei
Volokitin, Andrei ½ – ½ Svidler, Peter
Karjakin, Sergey ½ – ½ Ivanchuk, Vassily

Please click HERE to play through games of round 7.

Magical Magnus conjures win over Shirov

Round 5 at Foros and yet another elite Grandmaster crumbles in the face of Magnus Carlsen’s relentless pressure.  Alexei Shirov is a formidable player and has himself come close to the World Championship crown, but today he became Carlsen’s latest victim.

Shirov answered 1.d4 with the Slav defence and Magnus chose the popular ‘Moscow’ variation in reply.  A balanced opening developed into an even middlegame, but as in previous games, Magnus kept creating tricky problems for his opponent to solve and soon Shirov fell into time trouble as he sought to find the best answers.

It was on the 61st move that Shirov finally cracked, allowing Magnus to catch his King in a mating net.

Elsewhere on another exciting day, the closest challenger to Magnus failed to keep up the pace as Sergey Karjakin lost with the Black pieces against Andrei Volokitin.   The other decisive games saw Nisipeanu put Van Wely to the sword in a Najdorf Sicilian and Svidler employed his favourite Grunfeld defence to good effect against Onischuk.

Vassily Ivanchuk fought hard against Dmitry Jakovenko, but an extra pawn in a Knight ending was not enough and the game ended all-square after 72 moves.

Magnus Carlsen now leads by a clear 1.5 points with a very impressive score of 4.5/5.  If the world rankings were published today then Carlsen would be ranked second in the world, with only World Champion Vishy Anand ahead of him.
Please click HERE to play through the games of round 5…played on the 12th June.

 Source of article….about round 5: http://www.chess.com

Round 6  results!

Van Wely, Loek ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander
Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Alekseev, Evgeny
Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Ivanchuk, Vassily ½ – ½ Volokitin, Andrei
Shirov, Alexei ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey

Ukrainian Chess Federation
International Chess Tournament from 7-20 June 2008
Please click
HERE to play through the games of round 1 and on THIS LINK you can see the results of rounds 2 and 3.
On THIS LINK you can play through games played in round 2.

Results Round 3

Carlsen, Magnus 1 – 0 Van Wely, Loek
Eljanov, Pavel 1 – 0 Shirov, Alexei
Alekseev, Evgeny 1 – 0 Svidler, Peter
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ½ – ½ Ivanchuk, Vassily
Onischuk, Alexander ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey
Jakovenko, Dmitry 1 – 0 Volokitin, Andrei

Standings …Round 4

Van Wely, Loek vs Alekseev, Evgeny
Eljanov, Pavel vs Carlsen, Magnus
Svidler, Peter vs Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter
Ivanchuk, Vassily vs Onischuk, Alexander
Karjakin, Sergey vs Jakovenko, Dmitry
Shirov, Alexei vs Volokitin, Andrei

 

Day of Rest…Balaklava…

~Day of Rest…Balaklava…Images: Official site of Aerosvit

Magnus Carlsen, Norway, 2765

Peter Svidler, Russia, 2746

Vasiliy Ivanchuk, Ukraine, 2740

Alexei Shirov, Spain, 2740

Sergey Karjakin, Ukraine, 2732

Dmitry Jakovenko, Russia, 2711

Evgeny Alekseev, Russia, 2711

Pavel Eljanov, Ukraine, 2687
See 4 more players’ photos HERE with more information on all players.The list of participants:

1. Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2765

2. Svidler, Peter RUS 2746

3. Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2740

4. Shirov, Alexei ESP 2740

5. Karjakin, Sergey UKR 2732

6. Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2711

7. Alekseev, Evgeny RUS 2711

8. Eljanov, Pavel UKR 2687

9. Volokitin, Andrei UKR 2684

10. Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU 2684

11. Van Wely, Loek NED 2676

12. Onischuk, Alexander USA 2664

June 8th, 2008, Round 1, Time 15:00…ALL rounds start at 15:00 —every day!
June 9th, Round 2
June 10th, Round 3
June 11th, Round 4
June 12th, Round 5
June 13th, Round 6
June 14th, REST DAY
June 15th, Round 7
June 16th, Round 8
June 17th, Round 9
June 18th, Round 10
June 19th, Round 11

Round 2 Magnus Carlsen

 

Image: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/55750874_ac414c2849.jpg

Church on the Rock…Foros…

Foros, Crimea is the settlement in the Ukraine where this tournament is taking place…

 

The region is also known as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and lies on the northern coast of the Black Sea. The population is two million inhabitants, the capital is the city of Simferopol.

Foros, where the AeroSvit tournament is held, is a small village situated about 40 km from Yalta, in the southern part of Crimea. The climate conditions are gorgeous. Foros is the place were the dacha (summer-house) of the President of Ukraine is situated. The Russian writer Maxim Gorkiy lived and worked for some time in Foros. Today Ukrainian politicians and businessmen own summer houses there. Students spend their summers in Foros. There is the orthodox Foros Church and a beautiful national park. What is also good in Foros – you spell the name of the village exactly the way you pronounce it – F-o-r-o-s.

Source: chessbase

Last 2 Images: chessbase

In Foros, you will get this monument about Yuri Gagarin, the first man in Space!
Click HERE to read more about him.

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Linares round 13

Please click HERE to play through games from Linares round 13 as well as other rounds…

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Linares 2008 round 12

Image: Chessvibes

Click here to see the game of Carlsen and Topalov on Susan Polgar’s site.
If you click on THIS LINK you can play through the games of the players of rounds played so far. Click on the name on the top-menu to see the rounds of a particular player.

Click HERE to read about Shirov/Aronian’s game. 
Please click HERE to read more about Radjabov/Ivanchuk’s game…
and on THIS LINK about Anand/Leko’s game.

Wednesday is a day of rest…no games and the schedule for the rest of the week:

Round 13 6th March 2008
Ivanchuk, Vassily	vs.	Anand, Viswanathan
Radjabov, Teimour	vs.	Shirov, Alexei
Aronian, Levon	vs.	Carlsen, Magnus
Topalov, Veselin	vs.	Leko, Peter
Round 14 7th March 2008
Anand, Viswanathan	vs.	Topalov, Veselin
Leko, Peter	vs.	Aronian, Levon
Carlsen, Magnus	vs.	Radjabov, Teimour
Shirov, Alexei	vs.	Ivanchuk, Vassily

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Linares Round 8

Official site here….The annual Linares chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held. It is sometimes described as the Wimbledon of chess. It is one of the strongest annual tournaments held on the chess tour, along with the Corus chess tournament and Dortmund chess tournament.
Read more about LINARES here on Wikipedia…Anand outplays Shirov in Linares chess

LINARES, February 29:   

Viswanathan Anand once again showed excellent technique to outplay Alexei Shirov in the eighth round of the Morelia-Linares chess as the second leg got underway in Linares.Anand’s fourth win in eight rounds took his tally to 5.5 points and extended his lead to a full point. Anand is now one point clear of his nearest rivals Lev Aronian and Magnus Carslen, who have 4.5 points each. Anand also benefited from the win against Shirov as Magnus Carlsen lost a seemingly winning game against Vassily Ivanchuk.In his game against Shirov, whom he beat for the FIDE World title back in 2000, Anand made the Latvian-born Spaniard pay for not being able to get adequate counter play. In Sveshnikov Sicilian, Shirov’s pawn weaknesses ultimately cost him the game. It took Anand 57 moves and some fine technique to bring in the full point.Vaselin Topalov, trying to press too hard for a win, saw the effort backfire as he lost to Aronian. The game was balanced for a long time, but Topalov overpressed and Aronian responded with a defensive exchange sacrifice. That ultimately resulted in a superior endgame for Aronian, who converted it in 65 moves.Ivanchuk squandered a winning chance against Carlsen and made a wrong choice of move on the 20th turn, which ran him into serious time trouble. Carlsen soon won the race between the opposing sides’ passed pawns and grabbed a full point.The game between Teimour Radjabov and Peter Leko was drawn, but it was as exciting as any of the decisive games.Anand finished the first leg in Morelia, Mexico with 4.5 points from seven rounds. The players had four days rest but traveled more than 24 hours and the time difference between Mexico and Spain is seven hours, resulting in considerable jet lag.  
 

Original Report can be read here ….

Read on the US-chess site HERE more about the standings after round 7! There are also games to play through of the Grandmasters participating in this tournament. More chess news…..

Aronyan resumes in Spain from fourth position Morelia/Linares resumed in Spain on Thursday (February 28), with Armenian grandmaster Levon Aronyan (with white) beating Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov in the opening game.Aronyan finished the Mexican part of the super chess tournament in the fourth position (with 3.5 points in seven games) among eight grandmasters. The 2006 Morelia/Linares winner let Spain’s Alexey Shirov and Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov (4 points) outstrip him after losing to Norway’s Magnus Carlsen in the last round on Sunday. India’s Vishy Anand, the reigning world champion who is defending his last year’s tournament win, was a clear leader with 4.5 points.On Friday, February 29, Aronyan, with white pieces, was due to play Anand.The Linares part of the tournament is due to end on March 7.Meanwhile, Armenian chess-player Movses Movsisyan, representing the United States, scored 5.5 points out of 7 and took the first prize in the Winter Open held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. Forty chess-players participated in the tournament, according to http://www.armchess.am.And Armenian GM Varuzhan Hakobyan (also from the USA) scored 5.5 points out of 7 and shared the 2nd-6th places in the 3rd Open held in Morelia, Mexico. Hakobyan was behind the winner GM Ramirez (Costa Rica) with only half a point. Ninety-five chess players participated.

The “Magnicificent Eight” lined up in Spain, the players in this chess tournament.

On THIS LINK you can follow some of the results of round 10.

Peter Leko and his wife….

Vishy Anand and his wife…

Levon Aronian

More pictures/images : ….chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4450
Game…round 1……Topalov against…Aronian……

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