Thursday, November 29, 2007

FIDE World Cup Round 2

Ivanchuk over Galkin (in tiebreak)
Mamedyarov over Kozul
Macieja over Radjabov (2-0 upset)
Aronian over Gustafsson
Shirov over Shulman
Svidler over Pavasovic
Adams over Gurevich
Alekseev over Sakaev
Grischuk over Najer
Carlsen over Naiditsch (in tiebreak)
Kamsky over Avrukh
Akopian over Ghaem-Maghami
Jakovenko over Belov
Ponomariov over Hao Wang (in tiebreak)
Yue Wang over Tiviakov (in tiebreak)
Bacrot over Roiz
Karjakin over Zhang
Bu over Motylev (in tiebreak)
Tomashevsky over Hossain
Almasi over Socko
Malakhov over Volkov (in tiebreak)
Georgiev won the sudden death game over Kasimdzhanov
Dominguez (no relation) over Baramidze
Bareev over VanWely
Fressinet over Nevednichy
Zhou won the sudden death game over Volokitin
Rublevsky over Navara (in tiebreak)
Onischuk over Nikolic
Inarkiev over Vallejo-Pons
Sasikiran over Zvjaginsev (in tiebreak)
Cheparinov over Tkachiev (in tiebreak)
Nisipeanu over Zhao (in tiebreak)

Sunday, November 25, 2007

FIDE World Cup Round 1

Many of the favorites won in round 1, including all top 7 seeds.

The following matches will be going into tiebreaks...
Ismagambetov, AnuarKAZ 2480 Alekseev, EvgenyRUS2716
Filippov, AntonUZB 2496 Akopian, VladimirARM2713
El Gindy, EssamEGY 2503 Ponomariov, RuslanUKR2705
Gopal, G.N.IND 2520 Kasimdzhanov, RustamUZB2690
Nguyen, Ngoc Truong SonVIE 2530 Van Wely, LoekNED2679
Andriasian, ZavenARM 2546 Onischuk, AlexanderUSA2674
Kunte, AbhijitIND 2547 Zvjaginsev, VadimRUS2674
Zhao, JunCHN 2552 Harikrishna, P.IND2668
Sasikiran, KrishnanIND 2661 Zhigalko, SergeiBLR2562
Baramidze, DavidGER 2569 Short, Nigel DENG2649
Mamedov, RaufAZE 2582 Tomashevsky, EvgenyRUS2646
Gagunashvili, MerabGEO 2584 Zhang, PengxiangCHN2644
Roiz, MichaelISR 2644 Akobian, VaruzhanUSA2585
Belov, VladimirRUS 2587 Khalifman, AlexanderRUS2643
Milos, GilbertoBRA 2592 Avrukh, BorisISR2641
Sakaev, KonstantinRUS 2634 Vitiugov, NikitaRUS2594
Kaidanov, Gregory SUSA 2597 Gurevich, MikhailTUR2627
Leitao, RafaelBRA 2601 Shulman, YuriUSA2616
Kozul, ZdenkoCRO 2609 Bruzon Batista, LazaroCUB2607
Galkin, AlexanderRUS 2608 Bartel, MateuszPOL2608

And of course it wouldn't be the World Cup without some upsets...
Eljanov, PavelUKR 2691½ Hossain EnamulBAN25141.5
Landa, KonstantinRUS 26780.5 Nevednichy, VladislavROU25311.5
Sutovsky, EmilISR 26550.5 Zhou, JianchaoCHN25661.5
Shabalov, AlexanderUSA 26260.5 Pavasovic, DuskoSLO25971.5
Rodshtein, MaximISR 26150.5 Gustafsson, JanGER26061.5
Macieja, BartlomiejPOL 26061.5 Laznicka, ViktorCZE26100.5

Edited to add link to official website:
http://www.ugra-chess.ru/eng/main_e.htm

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Ivanchuk wins World Blitz Championship!

The decisive game was the exciting last round game between Anand and Ivanchuk.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 9

All games drawn - Kramnik wins at +4

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 8

Kramnik,V (2785) - Mamedyarov,S (2752) [A40]

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 e5 5.Nge2 exd4 6.Nxd4 Nc6 7.Be3 Nge7 8.h4 f5 9.h5 fxe4 10.hxg6 hxg6 11.Rxh8+ Bxh8 12.Nxe4 d5 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bd4 Bg4 15.Qxg4 Bxd4 16.cxd5 Bxb2 17.Rd1 cxd5 18.Bb5+ Kf8 19.Qe6 Kg7 20.Bc6 Nxc6 21.Qxc6 d4 22.Kf1 Rb8 23.Ng5 Qd6 24.Qc4 Qd7 25.Kg1 c6 26.Ne6+ Kf6 27.Nc5 Qe7 28.Rb1 Rb6 29.Nd3 Qe4 30.Re1 Qd5 31.Qa4 Bc3 32.Qxa7 Bxe1 33.Qxb6 Bc3 34.a4 Qe4 35.Qd8+ Kf7 36.Qc7+ Kf6 37.Qd6+ Qe6 38.Qf8+ Qf7 39.Qh8+ Ke7 40.a5 Qa2 41.Qg7+ Kd8 42.Ne5 1-0

Kramnik wins with one round to spare

Kramnik - 6
Shirov - 4.5
Gelfand, Carlsen, Jakovenko, Leko -4

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 7

Mamedyarov,S (2752) - Kamsky,G (2714) [D15]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.c5 Bf5 6.Bf4 Nbd7 7.e3 g6 8.h3 Bg7 9.Be2 Be4 10.Nh4 e5 11.Bg3 exd4 12.exd4 0-0 13.f3 Bf5 14.Nxf5 gxf5 15.Qd2 Nh5 16.Bf2 f4 17.0-0-0 Re8 18.Rhe1 Nf8 19.Bd3 Qf6 20.Na4 Ne6 21.Bc2 Ng3 22.Qd3 Qh6 23.Nc3 Re7 24.b4 Rae8 25.a4 a5 26.b5 Qg6 27.Qd2 Qf6 28.Ne2 Nxc5 29.Nxf4 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 31.Bxe1 Nf1 32.Nh5 Qe7 33.Qxa5 b6 34.Qa8+ Bf8 35.Bc3 Ne6 36.Qxc6 Qg5+ 37.Kb1 Qxh5 38.a5 Qg5 39.a6 Nd2+ 40.Ka2 Nc4 41.Kb3 0-1

Alekseev,Evgeny (2716) - Shirov,A (2739) [D78]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Qb3 Bg7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 Qb6 8.Nc3 Bf5 9.Ne5 e6 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.f3 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 g5 14.e4 Bg6 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Rad1 Rfd8 17.a3 dxe4 18.fxe4 Ne8 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Rfe1 Nd6 21.Bf1 f6 22.Kf2 b5 23.Bd3 Nf7 24.Bb1 Rd7 25.Ba2 Bh5 26.Be6 Re7 27.g4 Rxe6 28.gxh5 Kh6 29.d5 Re7 30.Ne2 Rxe4 31.dxc6 bxc6 32.Ng3 Rxe1 33.Kxe1 Rd8 34.Rxd8 Nxd8 35.b3 Nb7 36.a4 b4 37.Kd2 Na5 38.Kd3 c5 39.Ne4 Nxb3 40.Nxf6 Na5 41.Kc2 c4 42.Nd5 Nc6 43.Ne3 c3 44.Nd5 Kxh5 45.Nxb4 Nxb4+ 46.Kxc3 Na6 47.Kc4 Kh4 0-1

Standings:
Kramnik - 5
Shirov - 4
Carlsen, Jakovenko, Mamedyarov, Gelfand, Leko - 3.5

Friday, November 16, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 6

Three wins this round:
Kramnik over Alekseev
Shirov over Carlsen
Jakovenko over Kamsky

Standings:
1. Kramnik 4.5
2. Mamedyarov 3.5
3-7. Carlsen, Gelfand, Leko, Shirov, Jakovenko 3

Decisive games with annotations:
http://chessmind.powerblogs.com/files/talmem2007_rd6.htm

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 5

Kramnik,V (2785) - Shirov,A (2739) [E05]
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.Qc2 dxc4 7.Qxc4 a6 8.Bf4 Bd6 9.0-0 b5 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nb3 Be4 13.Qd2 Qe7 14.Rfc1 Rfc8 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Qa5 Rcb8 17.Nbd2 Bd5 18.Rc2 Qd8 19.Qxd8+ Rxd8 20.Rac1 Nb6 21.Ne1 Rac8 22.Nd3 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8 24.Rxc8+ Nxc8 25.Nb4 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 a5 27.Nc6 a4 28.e4 Ne8 29.Kf3 Kf8 30.Ke3 Nc7 31.Kd3 Ke8 32.Kc3 Na6 33.Nb4 Nc7 34.Nf1 Kd7 35.Ne3 Ne7 36.g4 g5 37.Nd3 f6 38.f4 gxf4 39.Nxf4 e5 40.dxe5 fxe5 41.Nfd5 Ncxd5+ 42.exd5 Kc7 43.g5 Kb6 44.b4 axb3 45.axb3 Ka5 46.h4 Ng6 47.h5 Nf4 48.g6 hxg6 49.h6 g5 50.h7 Ng6 51.Kd3 1-0

Kramnik now in sole lead at 3.5/5, followed by Carlsen and Mamedyarov at 3/5.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 4

All games drawn - AGAIN.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 3

Mamedyarov,S (2752) - Ivanchuk,V (2787) [D43]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 Nd7 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 g6 10.0-0 Bg7 11.Qc2 0-0 12.Bb3 Qe7 13.Ne4 e5 14.Nc3 a5 15.a3 Kh7 16.Rfe1 b6 17.Rad1 Bb7 18.d5 Rac8 19.d6 Qe8 20.h4 f5 21.e4 f4 22.Na4 Bf6 23.g3 Bd8 24.Kg2 Rf6 25.g4 Ba6 26.g5 Rf8 27.gxh6 Kxh6 28.Rg1 c5 29.Bd5 b5 30.Nc3 b4 31.Ne2 Nb6 32.Kh2 Rh8 33.Bf7 Qxf7 34.Nxe5 Qe8 35.Nxg6 Nd7 36.Nexf4 Ne5 37.d7 Nxd7 38.e5 Qxe5 39.Nxe5 1-0

Jakovenko,D (2710) - Carlsen,M (2714) [E20]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 Nc6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Ba6 14.Rfd1 Qc5 15.e4 Bc4 16.Qa4 Nb6 17.Qb4 Qh5 18.Bf4 c5 19.Qb2 Rad8 20.Re1 Rd7 21.h3 h6 22.a4 Ba6 23.Qa2 Rfd8 24.a5 Nc4 25.Bf1 e5 26.g4 Qg6 27.Bxc4 exf4 28.Bd5 f3 29.c4 h5 30.Kh2 Qf6 31.Rg1 hxg4 32.Rab1 Bxc4 33.Qxc4 Qf4+ 34.Rg3 Rxd5 35.Qxd5 Rxd5 36.exd5 c4 37.Rd1 c3 38.d6 c2 39.Rd3 Qc4 40.Re3 Qc6 41.Rd3 Qc5 0-1

Kamsky,G (2714) - Shirov,A (2739) [D00]

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bh4 c5 4.dxc5 g5 5.Bg3 Bg7 6.c3 Na6 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qa3 Qc8 9.c6 Bxc6 10.Nd2 e5 11.e4 Ne7 12.Ngf3 f6 13.exd5 Bxd5 14.Bb5+ Kf7 15.c4 Bc6 16.0-0 Rd8 17.Rad1 Qd7 18.h4 g4 19.Nh2 Qd4 20.Rfe1 h5 21.Nhf1 Qc5 22.Qa4 Bxb5 23.cxb5 Qb4 24.Qc2 Qxb5 25.Nc4 Qc6 26.Qb3 Kf8 27.Na5 Qc7 28.Qb5 Qc5 29.Qb3 0-1

Kramnik,V (2785) - Leko,P (2755) [E05]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7 11.Rc1 Be4 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.e3 Qa8 14.Qd1 b4 15.Qf1 Bd5 16.Be1 Rc8 17.Nbd2 Na5 18.Ne5 c5 19.dxc5 Bxc5 20.Nd3 Bf8 21.Bxd5 Nxd5 22.e4 Nb6 23.Rxc8 Qxc8 24.Nf3 Qb7 25.Nxb4 Qxe4 26.Qd3 Qxd3 27.Nxd3 Nac4 28.b3 Nd6 29.Rc1 Nd5 30.Rc6 Nf5 31.Ba5 Ra8 32.Nfe5 Nfe7 33.Rd6 Nf6 34.b4 Ned5 35.Rc6 Be7 36.a4 g6 37.Nc4 Kf8 38.Nc5 Bxc5 39.bxc5 Ke8 40.f3 Ng8 41.Nb6 Nge7 42.Rd6 Rb8 43.Nxd5 Nxd5 44.Rxa6 Rc8 45.Bb6 Nb4 46.Ra7 Nc6 47.Rb7 Ra8 48.Rc7 Nd4 49.a5 Nxf3+ 50.Kf2 Nxh2 51.c6 Ng4+ 52.Kf3 Nf6 53.Rb7 Nd5 54.Ke4 Nb4 55.c7 Rc8 56.Kd4 Kd7 57.Kc5 Nc6 58.a6 h5 59.a7 f5 60.a8Q Rxa8 61.c8Q+ Kxc8 62.Kxc6 1-0

Kramnik, Carlsen and Mamedyarov share lead at 2/3.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 2

All games drawn. What a snooze-fest. I believe Tal would be most unhappy.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Tal Memorial Round 1

Participants (Average Elo 2740, Category 20):
Ivanchuk Vassily (UKR 2787)
Kramnik Vladimir (RUS 2785)
Leko Peter (HUN 2755)
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE 2752)
Shirov Alexei (ESP 2739)
Gelfand Boris (ISR 2736)
Kamsky Gata (USA 2724)
Alekseev Evgeny (RUS 2716)
Carlsen Magnus (NOR 2714)
Jakovenko Dmitry (RUS 2710)

Round 1:
Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. Na3 O-O 11. axb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Bc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5 15. f4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Qg4 Qf6 18. b4 Ne7 19. Na3 Ng6 20. Nc4 Bxd4 21. cxd4 Qxd4 22. Na5 Qd2 23. Bb3 Ne5 24. Nc4 Nxg4 25. Nxd2 Rxb4 26. Rfc1 Ne5 27. Rxc7 g5 28. Bd5 g4 29. Nc4 h5 30. Nxe5 dxe5 31. Re7 1-0

The other four games were drawn.