Sunday, December 28, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 13 (Final)

Eljanov,P (2720) - Inarkiev,E (2669) [D17]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4 e6 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.Qc2 g6 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.f3 Nb6 13.Bb3 a5 14.Na2 Be7 15.Kh1 Nh5 16.Nc3 Rc8 17.Rd1 Bb4 18.Qf2 Nf6 19.e4 fxe4 20.Nxe4 Nbd5 21.Nc5 Nd7 22.Nd3 Bd6 23.Bd2 Re8 24.Re1 Qb6 25.Bc4 Nb4 26.Bxb4 Bxb4 27.Rf1 Kg7 28.Rad1 Rcd8 29.f4 Re4 30.Ne5 f6 31.Nf3 Qc7 32.f5 Rde8 33.Bd3 R4e7 34.fxg6 hxg6 35.Nh4 Rh8 36.Bxg6 Rxh4 37.Qxh4 Kxg6 38.Rf4 Bd2 39.Qg4+ Kh7 40.Qh5+ Kg8 41.Qg6+ Rg7 42.Qe8+ Nf8 43.Rxf6 Qe7 44.Qxf8+ Qxf8 45.Rxf8+ Kxf8 46.Rxd2 Ke7 47.g3 Kd6 48.Kg2 b5 49.h4 Kd5 50.Kh3 bxa4 51.h5 Ke4 52.Kh4 Rd7 53.g4 c5 54.d5 c4 55.Rc2 Kd4 56.h6 a3 57.bxa3 c3 58.g5 Kd3 59.Rxc3+ Kxc3 60.g6 Rd6 61.h7 1-0

Elista Final Results:
Radjabov, Jakovenko, Grischuk (at +3) - 153.33
Gashimov (at +2) - 110
Wang, Mamedyarov, Bacrot, Leko, Kasimdzhanov (at 0) - 80
Cheparinov (at -1) - 50
Eljanov, Alekseev (at -2) - 35
Inarkiev, Akopian (at -3) - 15

Grand Prix Standings:
Teimour Radjabov 363.33 (3)
Wang Yue 353.33 (3)
Vugar Gashimov 328.33 (3)
Alexander Grischuk 303.33 (3)
Dmitry Jakovenko 243.33 (2)
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 185.00 (2)
Levon Aronian 180.00 (1)
Gata Kamsky 180.00 (2)
Peter Svidler 175.00 (2)
Sergey Karjakin 150.00 (2)
Ivan Cheparinov 130.00 (3)
Etienne Bacrot 95.00 (2)
Peter Leko 80.00 (1)
Rustam Kasimdzhanov 80.00 (1*)
Vassily Ivanchuk 65.00 (1)
David Navara 50.00 (2)
Pavel Eljanov 35.00 (1*)
Evgeny Alekseev 35.00 (1*)
Boris Gelfand 30.00 (1)
Ernesto Inarkiev 30.00 (2)
Vladimir Akopian 15.00 (1)

(*) Eljanov, Alekseev and Kasimzhjanov came in mid-cycle and are down one tournament from where they should be. FIDE intends to rectify this by counting only 3 out of 4 tournaments to determine final winners.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 12

Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [E92]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.d5 Nd7 12.0-0 f5 13.exf5 Nc5 14.Qd2 g4 15.Nh4 a5 16.f3 gxf3 17.Rxf3 Ng4 18.h3 Bh6 19.Qe1 e4 20.Rf1 [20.hxg4 exf3 21.Nxf3] 20...Ne5 21.Bxe5 dxe5 22.g4 Be3+ 23.Kh1 Ra6 24.Ng2 Bd4 25.Qg3 Qg5 26.Rad1 Bxf5 27.Nb5 Qg7 28.Kh2 Bg6 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.Nxc7 Rf6 [30...Qxc7 31.Rxd4] 31.Nb5 Bxb2 32.g5 Rf5 33.Bg4 Rf7 34.Rb1 Nd3 [34...Bd4 35.Nxd4 exd4 36.Qb8+ Ke7 37.d6#] 35.Rxb2 Nxb2 36.Qa3+ Kg8 37.Qxb2 Rf1 38.Nd6 Qe7 39.Be6+ Kf8 40.Qxe5 Qg7 41.Qxg7+ Kxg7 42.Nxb7 Rf2 43.c5 Rd2 44.c6 e3 45.Kg3 e2 46.c7 1-0

Standings:
Jakovenko, Radjabov, Grischuk at +3
Gashimov at +2

Friday, December 26, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 11

Inarkiev,E (2669) - Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) [C92]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.Bc2 Nb8 13.b3 g6 14.a4 Nbd7 15.Ba3 c6 16.Nf1 Qc7 17.Ng3 Rad8 18.Qd2 Bg7 19.Rad1 c5 20.d5 bxa4 21.bxa4 a5 22.Qe3 Ba6 23.Nd2 Rb8 24.Ngf1 Nb6 25.Bb3 Nh5 26.c4 Rb7 27.Qc3 Nd7 28.Ne3 Nhf6 29.Rc1 Bh6 30.Qc2 Reb8 31.Ba2 Nb6 32.Bb3 Bf4 33.g3 Bh6 34.Kg2 Qd7 35.Rb1 Ra7 36.Qc3 Bc8 37.Rh1 Rbb7 38.Ra1 Qe8 39.Ng4 Bxg4 40.hxg4 Nbxd5 41.cxd5 Bxd2 42.Qd3 Bg5 43.f3 h5 44.gxh5 Nxh5 45.Bc4 Qxa4 46.Bxc5 Rb2+ 47.Bf2 Qd7 48.Ra2 Rab7 49.Qa3 Rxa2 50.Qxa2 Qc7 51.Rd1 Qb8 52.Qxa5 Rb2 53.Qe1 Kg7 54.Kg1 Qc8 55.Bf1 Qc2 56.Bd3 Qa4 57.Ra1 Qb3 58.Rb1 Bd8 59.Rxb2 Qxb2 60.Qe2 Qc1+ 61.Qe1 Qb2 62.Qe2 Qb4 63.Qe3 Nxg3 64.f4 exf4 65.Qxf4 Nh5 66.Qe3 Kg8 67.Kg2 Qb2 68.Be2 Qxe2 69.Qxe2 Nf4+ 70.Kf3 Nxe2 71.Kxe2 Bf6 72.Kf3 Be5 73.Kg4 f6 74.Be3 Kf7 75.Kf3 Ke7 76.Ke2 Kd7 77.Kd3 Kc7 78.Kc4 Kb7 79.Kb5 g5 80.Bg1 g4 81.Bf2 g3 82.Be3 g2 83.Bg1 Bb2 84.Ka4 Ka6 85.Kb4 Be5 86.Kc4 Ka5 0-1

Standings:
Jakovenko, Radjabov, Grischuk at +3
Gashimov at +2

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 10

Mamedyarov,S (2731) - Eljanov,P (2720) [D30]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Bg5 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 dxc4 6.Qc2 b5 7.a4 c6 8.g3 Bb7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.0-0 Qc8 11.b3 c3 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 c5 14.Qg4 h5 15.Qh4 f6 16.Be3 c4 17.axb5 Bd5 18.Ra4 Be7 19.bxc4 g5 20.Nxg5 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 fxg5 22.Qe4 Nf6 23.Qg6+ Kd8 24.Rfa1 h4 25.d5 h3+ 26.Kg1 Rg8 27.Qd3 exd5 28.cxd5 Ke8 29.d6 Bd8 30.Rxa7 Rxa7 31.Rxa7 c2 32.d7+ Nxd7 33.Qe4+ Kf8 34.Qf5+ Bf6 35.Bc1 Qc3 36.Qxh3 Rg7 37.Kg2 Qd4 38.Ba3+ Kg8 39.Ra8+ Kf7 40.Qf5 g4 41.Rd8 1-0

Leko,P (2747) - Gashimov,V (2703) [C42]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Be6 9.0-0-0 Qd7 10.h4 0-0-0 11.Ng5 Bxg5 12.hxg5 a6 13.b3 Kb8 14.c4 Rdf8 15.Bd3 Bf5 16.Be2 Bg4 17.f3 Be6 18.Qc3 f6 19.gxf6 Rxf6 20.b4 Ne7 21.Kb2 Nc8 22.b5 axb5 23.cxb5 Re8 24.Bd3 Bf5 25.Bc4 Be6 26.Bf1 Bg8 27.Bd4 Rf4 28.a4 Qf7 29.Qb3 Qf8 30.Bc4 Bxc4 31.Qxc4 Nb6 32.Qb3 d5 33.Rxh7 Nc4+ 34.Ka2 g5 35.Rh8 Qf7 36.Rxe8+ Qxe8 37.Bc3 g4 38.Rxd5 gxf3 39.gxf3 Nb6 40.Re5 Qd8 41.a5 Ra4+ 42.Kb2 Nc4+ 43.Kc1 Qf8 44.Kb1 Na3+ 45.Ka1 Rf4 46.Ka2 Nc4 47.Rh5 Rxf3 48.b6 cxb6 49.axb6 Nxb6 50.Rb5 Nd7 51.Rxb7+ Kc8 52.Rxd7 Kxd7 53.Qb7+ Ke6 54.Qc6+ Qd6 55.Qxf3 Qa6+ 56.Kb1 Qb6+ 57.Bb2 1-0

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Akopian,Vl (2679) [D18]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Nbd7 8.0-0 Bb4 9.Qe2 0-0 10.e4 Bg6 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Be7 15.Ng5 Bxg5 16.Qxg5 Bg6 17.Be2 Qxg5 18.Bxg5 Nb8 19.a5 Nc6 20.Be3 Rfc8 21.Ra3 Nd8 22.Re1 Rc2 23.b4 Nc6 24.b5 Nb4 25.Rb3 Na2 26.h4 h5 27.Bf1 Rac8 28.b6 a6 29.Kh2 Kf8 30.Re2 Rxe2 31.Bxe2 Ke7 32.Bd2 Kd7 33.Rb2 Nc3 34.Bxc3 Rxc3 35.Bxa6 Kc8 36.Be2 Kb8 37.Bb5 Kc8 38.Rb4 Ra3 39.Ba4 f6 40.exf6 gxf6 41.a6 bxa6 42.Bd7+ Kb7 43.Bxe6 Ra5 44.Bd7 Bd3 45.Bc6+ Kb8 46.Rb2 Bc4 47.f3 Ra1 48.g4 hxg4 49.fxg4 Re1 50.h5 Re6 51.Bd7 Re7 52.Bf5 Kb7 53.h6 a5 54.h7 Re8 55.g5 fxg5 56.Rg2 a4 57.Rxg5 a3 58.Rg8 a2 59.Rxe8 1-0

Radjabov,T (2751) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2715) [A13]
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 Be7 6.b3 0-0 7.Bb2 d5 8.e3 Nbd7 9.Nc3 a6 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.d3 Qe7 12.Nh4 g6 13.f4 c6 14.e4 dxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Nf6 17.Bg2 Rad8 18.Rad1 Rfe8 19.Ba1 Rd7 20.Kh1 Nh5 21.Qb2 f6 22.d4 Qf8 23.Nf3 Qh6 24.Kg1 c5 25.Ne5 Bxg2 26.Nxd7 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Qg7 28.Nxb6 g5 29.Qe2 Nxg3 30.hxg3 gxf4 31.Qh5 Rb8 32.Na4 cxd4 33.Bxd4 e5 34.Bf2 fxg3 35.Be3 Qf7 36.Qxf7+ Kxf7 37.Kg2 Rg8 38.Nc3 Ke6 39.Ne4 Be7 40.Bc5 Bd8 41.Nxg3 f5 42.Kh3 f4 43.Ne4 Kf5 44.Re1 h5 45.b4 Rg4 46.Bf2 Be7 47.c5 f3 48.c6 Bd8 49.Rd1 Bc7 50.Ng3+ Ke6 51.Rd7 Bd6 52.Nxh5 Rc4 53.Ng7+ Kd5 54.Bc5 1-0

Jakovenko,D (2737) - Inarkiev,E (2669) [D11]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 e6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.Bd2 Bb4 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 Re8 11.Qd1 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Nb6 13.Be2 Qe7 14.Qb3 Rad8 15.Bf3 e5 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Qxb4 Rxd2 18.Rad1 Red8 19.Rxd2 Rxd2 20.Na4 Qd6 21.Qxd6 Rxd6 22.Nc5 Rd2 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 Nc4 25.Nxb7 Nxb2 26.Bf3 Nd5 27.Na5 Nc3 28.Nxc6 a6 29.Kf1 Nxa2 30.Be2 Nc3 31.Bxa6 Ne4 32.Ke2 Nd6 33.Bd3 Na4 34.e4 Nc3+ 35.Ke3 Nd1+ 36.Kf3 f6 37.Bc2 Nc3 38.Ke3 g5 39.Kd4 Ne2+ 40.Kd5 Nf7 41.Ke6 Kg7 42.g3 Ng1 43.Nd4 Nxh3 44.Nf5+ Kg6 45.Ne7+ Kg7 46.Nf5+ Kg6 47.f3 Nd8+ 48.Kd7 Nf7 49.Ke6 Nd8+ 50.Kd7 Nf7 51.Ke7 h5 52.Ba4 g4 53.f4 Nh6 54.Be8+ Kh7 55.Kxf6 Nxf4 56.gxf4 Nxf5 57.Bg6+ Kh6 58.Bxf5 1-0

Standings:
Jakovenko, Radjabov and Grischuk at +3
Gashimov at +2

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 9

Jakovenko,D (2737) - Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Ng4 10.Kb1 Be6 11.g3 Nc6 12.f4 Nxe3 13.Qxe3 Rc8 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 exf4 16.gxf4 Nb8 17.Bd3 Nd7 18.Qe4 g6 19.h4 Bf6 20.h5 Bg7 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.c3 Qf6 23.Nd4 Rfe8 24.Qf3 Nb6 25.f5 g5 26.Rdg1 Re5 27.Qh5 Kf8 28.Nf3 Rxc3 29.Nxe5 Rc7 30.Qxg5 Qxg5 31.Ng6+ Qxg6 32.fxg6 Nxd5 33.gxf7 Nf4 34.Rxg7 1-0

Eljanov,P (2720) - Radjabov,T (2751) [E99]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.f3 f5 11.g4 Kh8 12.h4 c6 13.Kg2 Nf6 14.Nd3 b5 15.b3 Rb8 16.Nf2 b4 17.Na4 Bb7 18.Bg5 Qd7 19.Qd2 cxd5 20.cxd5 Neg8 21.Rac1 Ba8 22.Qc2 Rf7 23.Qd3 Ne7 24.Kg1 h5 25.Bxf6 Rxf6 26.g5 fxe4 27.fxe4 Rf4 28.Rc4 Rxh4 29.Qg3 Rf4 30.Nd3 Bxd5 31.exd5 Rxc4 32.bxc4 Qxa4 33.c5 Qxa2 34.cxd6 Nf5 35.Rxf5 Qxe2 36.Rf2 Qe4 37.d7 Qxd5 38.Kh2 Kh7 39.Rf6 Qxd7 40.Nxe5 Qd2+ 0-1

Wang Yue (2736) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [E95]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0-0 e5 8.Re1 Re8 9.Bf1 h6 10.Rb1 c6 11.d5 c5 12.Bd2 Nh7 13.Qc1 f5 14.exf5 gxf5 15.Bxh6 e4 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nd2 Nhf6 18.Be2 Ne5 19.Nf1 Nfg4 20.Bxg4 Nxg4 21.Ne2 Rh8 22.Qc3+ Qf6 23.f4 exf3 24.Qxf3 Bd7 25.Qc3 Ne5 26.Nf4 Kf7 27.Re3 Rh4 28.g3 Rg8 29.Kh1 Qg7 30.Nd3 f4 31.Nxe5+ dxe5 32.Rxe5 Qh6 33.gxh4 Qg6 34.Ng3 Qxb1+ 35.Re1 Qg6 36.Qe5 Qf6 37.Qc7 Rd8 38.Rf1 f3 39.Ne4 1-0
Gashimov,V (2703) - Mamedyarov,S (2731) [B63]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.0-0-0 a6 9.f4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bd3 Qc7 13.Qe3 Bd7 14.Kb1 Qc5 15.Qg3 0-0-0 16.Ne2 Kb8 17.f5 Rdg8 18.Qf3 h5 19.Nf4 h4 20.Rhe1 Bd8 21.c3 Bc7 22.Bc2 Qe5 23.g3 Qc5 24.g4 Bc8 25.h3 Qe5 26.Nh5 Bb6 27.Qf1 Re8 28.Nf4 Rhg8 29.Re2 Bc7 30.Nd3 Qg3 31.Nf4 Bb6 32.Rde1 1-0

Standings:
Gashimov and Grischuk at +3
Jakovenko and Radjabov at +2

Monday, December 22, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 8

Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) - Akopian,Vl (2679) [D45]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 Nxg4 8.Rg1 f5 9.h3 Ngf6 10.Rxg7 Ne4 11.Bd2 Qf6 12.Rg2 Nf8 13.Qb3 Ng6 14.0-0-0 b6 15.Kb1 Bb7 16.Qa4 Nxd2+ 17.Rxd2 0-0 18.Qd1 Rae8 19.cxd5 exd5 20.Bd3 Re7 21.h4 Kh8 22.Qh1 Rg7 23.Rd1 Rfg8 24.Rg5 Bc8 25.Ne2 f4 26.e4 dxe4 27.Bxe4 c5 28.Nc3 cxd4 29.Nxd4 Ne7 30.Bc2 Qh6 31.Ne4 Bb7 32.Qe1 Bb8 33.Rxg7 Rxg7 34.Ng5 Bd5 35.Nde6 1-0

Grischuk,A (2719) - Wang Yue (2736) [D17]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.e3 g6 10.Bd3 Be6 11.Be2 Bg7 12.e4 Nfd7 13.Nf3 Bg4 14.0-0 0-0 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 e5 17.d5 Re8 18.g3 Qe7 19.b3 Rad8 20.Be3 cxd5 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.Qxd5 b6 23.Qb5 Bf8 24.Rad1 Qb4 25.Be2 Nc5 26.Qxb4 axb4 27.Bc4 Kg7 28.Kg2 f6 29.Bd5 Rb8 30.Rc1 Na6 31.Rc6 Bc5 32.a5 Bxe3 33.fxe3 Nc5 34.axb6 Nd7 35.Rc7 Re7 36.Bc6 Rxb6 37.Rxd7 1-0

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2715) [C95]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.a4 Bf8 14.Bd3 c6 15.b3 Qc7 16.Bb2 g6 17.Qc2 Rac8 18.Bf1 Qb8 19.Rad1 Bg7 20.g3 Ba8 21.axb5 axb5 22.b4 Bf8 23.Qb3 h6 24.dxe5 Nxe5 25.c4 bxc4 26.Nxc4 Nfd7 27.Nfxe5 Nxe5 28.Nxe5 dxe5 29.Rd7 Re7 30.Red1 Rce8 31.Bc4 Kg7 32.Qf3 c5 33.Qxf7+ Rxf7 34.Rxf7+ Kh8 35.Rdd7 1-0

Standings:
Grischuk at +3
Gashimov at +2
Radjabov and Jakovenko at +1

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 7

Inarkiev over Radjabov, Eljanov over Cheparinov in a 125 move marathon, and Grischuk over Alekseev with black.

Standings:
1-2. Gashimov, Grischuk 4.5 (+2)
3-4. Jakovenko, Radjabov 4 (+1)

The games are available at http://elista2008.fide.com/tourview/show-43.html

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 6

Grischuk,A (2719) - Eljanov,P (2720) [C67]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.g4 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.h3 Be7 14.Kg2 h5 15.f3 hxg4 16.hxg4 f5 17.exf6 gxf6 18.Bf4 Be6 19.Bxc7 f5 20.gxf5 Rg8+ 21.Kf2 Bc5+ 22.Ke2 Rg2+ 23.Kd3 Bxf5+ 24.Ne4 Ke7 25.Rd2 Rxd2+ 26.Kxd2 Bxe4 27.fxe4 Rg8 28.Rh1 Bd4 29.b3 Rg2+ 30.Kd3 Bg7 31.Bf4 b5 32.Rh5 a6 33.a4 Rg4 34.Be3 Rg3 35.c4 Kd7 36.Ke2 bxa4 37.bxa4 Bc3 38.Rh7+ Ke6 39.Rc7 Ke5 40.Rxc6 Bd4 41.Bd2 Ra3 42.Bc1 Ra1 43.Kd2 a5 44.Rh6 Rb1 45.Rh4 Bf2 46.Rg4 Kd4 47.Kc2 Rb7 48.e5+ Kxe5 49.Bb2+ Kf5 50.Rg8 Bc5 51.Rd8 Bb4 52.Rd5+ Ke6 53.Bc3 Bxc3 54.Kxc3 Rb1 55.Kd4 Ra1 56.Rxa5 Kd6 57.Ra6+ Kc7 58.Kc5 Kb7 59.Rb6+ Kc7 60.Rb4 Rh1 61.Kb5 Rh5+ 62.c5 Rh1 63.a5 Kb7 64.a6+ Ka7 65.Rd4 Rb1+ 66.Kc6 Rh1 67.Rd8 Rh5 68.Kb5 Rh7 69.Rd5 Rh1 70.Rd7+ Kb8 71.c6 Rb1+ 72.Kc5 Rc1+ 73.Kb6 Rb1+ 74.Kc5 Rc1+ 75.Kd6 Rd1+ 76.Ke7 Rc1 77.Rd8+ Ka7 78.Kd7 Rd1+ 79.Kc8 1-0

Akopian,Vl (2679) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2715) [C95]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.b3 Bg7 16.d5 Rc8 17.c4 c6 18.Bd2 Nc5 19.Rb1 Qc7 20.Be3 a5 21.Bxc5 dxc5 22.Bd3 bxc4 23.bxc4 Ba6 24.Qc2 cxd5 25.cxd5 c4 26.Bf1 Bf8 27.Ne2 Nd7 28.Nc3 Bb4 29.Red1 Qd6 30.Nd2 Kg7 31.a3 Bxa3 32.Nb5 Bxb5 33.Rxb5 Bb4 34.Nxc4 Qa6 35.Qa4 Nc5 36.Rxc5 Bxc5 37.d6 Rcd8 38.Nxe5 Qb6 39.Nc4 Bxf2+ 40.Kh1 Qa7 41.e5 Bg3 42.Qa1 Kg8 43.Qxa5 Qf2 44.Qc3 Bf4 45.Rb1 h5 46.Qe1 Qxe1 47.Rxe1 f6 48.Bd3 Kh7 49.g4 hxg4 50.hxg4 Bxe5 51.g5 Kg7 52.gxf6+ Bxf6 53.Rg1 Rh8+ 54.Kg2 Rh4 55.Rb1 Rd4 56.Bf1 Rc8 57.Rb7+ Kh6 58.Rc7 Ra8 59.Rf7 Kg5 60.Rb7 Ra2+ 61.Kg3 Rg4+ 0-1

Standings:
Gashimov and Radjabov at +2
Jakovenko, Grischuk and Alekseev at +1

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 5

Inarkiev,E (2669) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Nbd7 8.f4 b5 9.f5 Ne5 10.fxe6 fxe6 11.0-0 Bd7 12.a4 bxa4 13.Nxa4 Be7 14.Nb3 Rb8 15.Nc3 0-0 16.Rxa6 Qc8 17.Ra7 Rb4 18.Rf4 Qb8 19.Ra1 Ng6 20.Rf3 Nxe4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Nc5 dxc5 23.Qxd7 Nh4 24.Rxf8+ Bxf8 25.Bc4 Rxe3 26.Bxe6+ Kh8 27.Qf7 Bd6 28.Bd5 Bxh2+ 29.Kf2 Re8 0-1

Gashimov,V (2703) - Grischuk,A (2719) [B97]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd3 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Be7 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Be2 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qc7 14.0-0 0-0 15.Qc4 Qd7 16.Qb3 Kh8 17.Bc4 d5 18.exd5 b5 19.Be2 Bc5 20.Kh1 exd5 21.Be3 Nc6 22.Ne6 Qxe6 23.Bxc5 Re8 24.Bf3 Bb7 25.a4 Na5 26.Qb4 Nc4 27.Rbd1 Ne4 28.Nxe4 dxe4 29.Be2 e3 30.axb5 axb5 31.Qxb5 Ba6 32.Qb4 Rab8 33.Qa4 Ra8 34.Qb4 Nd2 35.Rfe1 Ne4 36.Kg1 Rab8 37.Qd4 Nf2 38.Ra1 Bxe2 39.Rxe2 Ng4 40.h3 Ne5 41.Rxe3 Rbd8 42.Qc3 Qc4 43.Qxc4 Nxc4 44.Rxe8+ Rxe8 45.Ra7 h6 46.Bd4 Ne5 47.c4 Kh7 48.c5 h5 49.Ra6 Nd3 50.Ra3 Nf4 51.Be3 Nd5 52.Kf2 Re4 53.Rd3 Nxe3 54.Rxe3 Rc4 55.Re5 Rc2+ 56.Kf3 h4 57.Ke4 Kg6 58.Kd5 Rd2+ 59.Ke6 Rxg2 60.c6 Rc2 61.Kd6 Kf6 62.Rd5 g5 63.c7 g4 64.Rc5 1-0

Standings:
Gashimov, Radjabov at +2
Jakovenko at +1

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 4

Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2715) [E58]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 10.Bb2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 e5 12.h3 Bf5 13.Ba2 Rad8 14.Qe2 Rfe8 15.d5 Rxd5 16.Bxd5 Nxd5 17.Rfd1 Nb6 18.a4 a6 19.c4 a5 20.Bc3 f6 21.Nd2 Nb4 22.Bxb4 cxb4 23.Rdc1 Rd8 24.c5 Bd3 25.Qe1 Nd5 26.Nb3 h6 27.Ra2 e4 28.Raa1 Ra8 29.Nd4 Rc8 30.Qd2 Kh7 31.f4 Nc3 32.Nb3 Ne2+ 33.Kf2 Nxc1 34.Rxc1 Qd7 0-1

Bacrot,E (2705) - Leko,P (2747) [B19]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qc7 15.0-0-0 Ngf6 16.Ne4 0-0 17.g4 Nxg4 18.Qe2 f5 19.Rdg1 Rae8 20.Ne1 e5 21.Ng3 exd4 22.Nxf5 Rxf5 23.Qxg4 Rf7 [23...Rg5 24.Bxg5 Bxg5+ 25.Kb1 Ne5 26.Qf5 Nxc4 ] 24.Bxh6 Bf6 25.Bd2 Ne5 26.Qe2 d3 27.Qe4 Qb6 28.b3 Qc5 29.h6 Qa3+ 30.Kd1 Qxa2 31.Qh7+ 1-0

Wang Yue (2736) - Eljanov,P (2720) [D38]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Rc1 c6 8.e3 Qa5 9.Qb3 Ne4 10.Bd3 Nxg5 11.Nxg5 Nf6 12.0-0 0-0 13.h3 Re8 14.Rfe1 h6 15.Nf3 Qb6 16.Na4 Qa5 17.Nc3 Qb6 18.Qc2 Bd6 19.a3 Qd8 20.Nd2 Bd7 21.Na4 b6 22.Nc3 Rc8 23.Nf3 Qe7 24.Bf5 Bxf5 25.Qxf5 g6 26.Qd3 Ne4 27.Qa6 Rc7 28.Nxe4 dxe4 29.Nd2 c5 30.dxc5 Rxc5 31.Rxc5 Bxc5 32.Qa4 Bd6 33.Rd1 Be5 34.Nc4 Rc8 35.b3 Rc7 36.Qb5 Bf6 37.a4 Rc5 38.Qd7 Rc7 39.Qxe7 Bxe7 40.g4 Kg7 41.Rd5 Bh4 42.Nd6 Rc2 43.Nxe4 Rb2 44.Rb5 Kf8 45.Kg2 Kg7 46.Kf3 Kf8 47.a5 bxa5 48.Rxa5 Rxb3 49.Rxa7 Rb2 50.Rd7 Kg7 51.Rd2 Rxd2 52.Nxd2 Kf6 53.Ke2 Ke6 54.Nf3 Bd8 55.Nd4+ Kd5 56.Kd3 Bb6 57.f3 Ba5 58.e4+ Kd6 59.f4 Be1 60.Kc4 Bd2 61.e5+ Ke7 62.f5 gxf5 63.gxf5 Bg5 64.Kd5 Kf8 65.f6 Bd2 66.Ke4 Bc1 67.Kf5 Bd2 68.Nf3 Bc3 69.Ng1 Bd4 70.Ne2 Bb2 71.Nf4 Bc1 72.e6 fxe6+ 73.Nxe6+ Kf7 74.Nd8+ Ke8 75.Nc6 1-0

Standings:
Radjabov at +2
Jakovenko, Grischuk, Gashimov at +1

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 3

Eljanov,P (2720) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2715) [E32]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d6 7.f3 c5 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Bg5 Nc6 10.e3 e5 11.Bd3 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Be4 Bf5 14.Bd5 Ne7 15.Ne2 Nxd5 16.cxd5 Qd6 17.e4 Bd7 18.0-0 Rfe8 19.a4 Qa6 20.Ng3 c4 21.Kh1 Rac8 22.a5 Qd6 23.h3 Rc5 24.Rfc1 Rec8 25.Nf1 f5 26.Ne3 f4 27.Ng4 Bxg4 28.hxg4 Kf7 29.Qb4 Qc7 30.Ra4 Ke8 31.Qc3 Kd7 32.Rca1 Kd6 33.Qa3 Kd7 34.Qc3 Kd6 35.Qa3 Kd7 36.Rb4 Kd8 37.Qa4 Ke7 38.Qa3 Kd8 39.Qa4 Ke7 40.Kh2 Kd6 41.Qa3 Kd7 42.Qc3 Kd6 43.b3 cxb3 44.Qxb3 Rc3 45.Qb1 Rb8 46.Rb5 Kd7 47.Qb4 Rc4 48.Qb3 h5 49.g5 h4 50.Rd1 h3 51.d6 Qc6 52.Rb4 1-0

Radjabov,T (2751) - Kasimdzhanov,R (2672) [B78]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.h4 h5 13.Kb1 Re8 14.g4 hxg4 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Bh6 Kh7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.fxg4 Bxg4 19.Nf5+ Bxf5 20.exf5 Rh8 21.fxg6 Nxg6 22.Ne4 Nf6 23.Rdf1 Rxh1 24.Rxh1 d5 25.Nxf6 Kxf6 26.Qf2+ Kg7 27.Rf1 f6 28.Qf5 Rc6 29.Rg1 Qe8 30.Bxd5 Rc5 31.Qe6 Rb5 32.c4 Rb6 33.Qh3 e6 34.Bf3 Qd8 35.Qg2 1-0

Leko,P (2747) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Ne7 8.c4 Nbc6 9.Qa4 a6 10.Nc3 dxc4 11.0-0-0 Qa5 12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.Nxf5 Nxf5 14.Bb6 Nc6 15.f4 Rc8 16.Rd2 Be7 17.Bf3 g5 18.g3 gxf4 19.gxf4 Nb4 20.Kb1 Rg8 21.Rhd1 Nd3 22.Bxb7 Rb8 23.Bc6+ Kf8 24.Ba7 Rc8 25.Be4 Nxf4 26.Na4 c3 27.Nxc3 Ng6 28.Re2 Kg7 29.Rf1 Bc5 30.Bxc5 Rxc5 31.Bxf5 exf5 32.Rxf5 Re8 33.Ref2 Re7 34.Kc2 Rcxe5 35.b4 Rxf5 36.Rxf5 Re6 37.a4 Ne7 38.Rf2 f5 39.Kb3 Kf6 40.b5 axb5 41.axb5 Re3 42.Rd2 Re6 43.Na4 f4 44.b6 Nc6 45.Nc5 Re3+ 46.Ka4 f3 47.b7 Kg5 48.Kb5 Nb8 49.Rd8 Re1 50.Rxb8 f2 51.Rf8 f1Q+ 52.Rxf1 Rxf1 53.Ka4 1-0

Standings:
Radjabov at +2
Grischuk, Jakovenko, Gashimov at +1

Monday, December 15, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 2

Grischuk,A (2719) - Leko,P (2747) [E15]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Rc1 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bg2 Bb7 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Qc2 Re8 13.Rfd1 c6 14.Ne1 Nf8 15.Bg5 Ne6 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.e3 a5 18.Nd3 Be7 19.Rb1 Ba3 20.b4 axb4 21.Nxb4 Qe7 22.Qb3 Ra7 23.Nc2 b5 24.Bxd5 cxd5 25.Nxb5 Ra6 26.Nbxa3 Bc8 27.Nb4 Ng5 28.Nxa6 Qe4 29.Qb5 Rf8 30.Nc5 Qf3 31.Kf1 Nh3 32.Rd2 Qh1+ 33.Ke2 Qxh2 34.Kd3 Nxf2+ 35.Kc3 Qxg3 36.Qe2 Ng4 37.Rf1 Qc7 38.Kb2 Qa5 39.Nb3 1-0

Bacrot,E (2705) - Radjabov,T (2751) [A10]
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.Nc3 d6 5.Rb1 e5 6.b4 a6 7.a4 Nf6 8.b5 axb5 9.axb5 Ne7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.0-0 Be6 12.d3 h6 13.Qb3 c6 14.Ba3 Re8 15.Ra1 Rc8 16.bxc6 bxc6 17.Rfb1 g5 18.Nd2 d5 19.Bc5 Nf5 20.Bb6 Qd6 21.Qa3 dxc4 22.Nxc4 Bxc4 23.dxc4 Qe6 24.Rd1 e4 25.e3 Qxc4 26.Rac1 Qe6 27.Bc5 Ra8 28.Qb4 Reb8 29.Ra1 Nd5 30.Nxd5 Bxa1 31.Nb6 Bg7 32.Qxe4 Ra1 33.Rxa1 Bxa1 34.Qxe6 fxe6 35.Bxc6 Kf7 36.Bf3 Bf6 37.Kg2 Be7 38.Bxe7 Nxe7 39.Nc4 Kf6 40.Nd6 Rd8 41.Ne4+ Ke5 42.Nc5 Nf5 43.Kf1 Rd2 44.Bg4 Ng7 45.Nb3 Rb2 46.Nd4 Kf6 47.h3 e5 48.Ne2 Rc2 49.Bf3 h5 50.Ke1 Rc4 51.Bd5 Rc5 52.Bf3 Rc4 53.Bd5 Rc2 54.Kd1 Rc8 55.Kd2 Nf5 56.Nc3 Nd6 57.Bf3 Rh8 58.Kd3 h4 59.gxh4 gxh4 60.Nd5+ Kg6 61.Bg2 Re8 62.Be4+ Kg7 63.Nc3 Rf8 64.f3 Rd8 65.f4 Nb5+ 66.Nd5 Nc7 67.Kc4 Nxd5 68.Bxd5 exf4 69.exf4 Kf6 70.Kc5 Kf5 71.Kc6 Kxf4 72.Be6 Rd2 73.Kc5 Ke5 0-1

Grischuk, Radjabov, Gashimov, Jakovenko in lead at +1

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Elista Grand Prix Round 1

Jakovenko,D (2737) - Wang Yue (2736) [C67]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ke8 10.h3 Be7 11.g4 Nh4 12.Nxh4 Bxh4 13.Rd1 Be7 14.Kg2 h5 15.f3 Be6 16.Ne2 Rd8 17.Be3 a6 18.Nf4 g6 19.Rxd8+ Kxd8 20.Rd1+ Kc8 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.f4 b5 23.b3 Rh7 24.Bf2 hxg4 25.hxg4 Rh8 26.Rh1 Rxh1 27.Kxh1 Kd7 28.Kg2 Bb4 29.Kf3 Ke8 30.Ke4 Ke7 31.Bh4+ Ke8 32.f5 gxf5+ 33.gxf5 exf5+ 34.Kxf5 Bc3 35.Bf2 Ke7 36.e6 Ke8 37.Bg3 Ba5 38.Be5 Bb6 39.c3 c5 40.c4 Ba5 41.Kf6 c6 42.e7 Be1 43.Ke6 Bh4 44.Kd6 Bxe7+ 45.Kxc6 bxc4 46.bxc4 Kd8 47.Bd6 Bh4 48.Bxc5 Kc8 49.Kb6 a5 50.Kxa5 Kb7 51.Kb5 Bg3 52.a4 Ka8 53.Be3 Bd6 54.Bd2 Kb7 1-0

Gashimov,V (2703) - Eljanov,P (2720) [C65]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.0-0 Be7 6.e5 Ne4 7.Nxd4 0-0 8.Nf5 d5 9.Nxe7+ Nxe7 10.f3 Nc5 11.Re1 c6 12.Bf1 Ng6 13.Be3 Ne6 14.Bf2 Re8 15.Nc3 Qg5 16.Qc1 Qxc1 17.Raxc1 Nef8 18.Bg3 h5 19.h4 Ne7 20.Bf2 Nfg6 21.g3 Nf5 22.f4 Nh6 23.Ne2 Ne7 24.b4 Ng4 25.Nd4 a5 26.a3 Nf5 27.Bd3 Nxd4 28.Bxd4 Nh6 29.b5 Bf5 30.Bf1 Rec8 31.bxc6 bxc6 32.Bc5 Rcb8 33.Re3 Rb2 34.Rc3 Be4 35.Bf2 Ra2 36.Be2 Ng4 37.Bb6 Rb2 38.Rxc6 Rb8 39.Bxg4 hxg4 40.Bxa5 d4 41.Rc4 Bf5 42.Bb4 Rd8 43.Bd6 Ra2 44.Rd1 Bxc2 45.Rdxd4 Bf5 46.Bb4 Ra8 47.Rc5 Be6 48.Rc1 Kh7 49.Rcd1 Rb2 50.R4d2 Rb3 51.Rd3 Rb2 52.R1d2 Rb1+ 53.Kf2 Rc8 54.Rc3 Rxc3 55.Bxc3 Rb3 56.Bb4 Bf5 57.Rd4 Rf3+ 58.Kg2 Re3 59.Kf2 Rf3+ 60.Kg2 Re3 61.Rc4 Be6 62.Rc3 Re2+ 63.Kf1 Rb2 64.Ke1 Kg6 65.Bf8 Rb8 66.Bb4 Kf5 67.Kd2 Ke4 68.Re3+ Kd5 69.Rd3+ Ke4 70.Re3+ Kd5 71.Re1 Kd4 72.Bc3+ Kd5 73.Re3 g6 74.Rd3+ Ke4 75.a4 Rb3 76.Re3+ Kd5 77.Rd3+ Ke4 78.Re3+ Kd5 79.Re1 Bf5 80.a5 Kc4 81.Rc1 Kb5 82.Ra1 Ka6 83.Ra4 Rb5 84.Rd4 Rb8 85.Ke3 Rc8 86.Rd6+ Kb5 87.Rb6+ Kc4 88.Bd4 Rd8 89.a6 Ra8 90.Rd6 Rb8 91.Rc6+ Kd5 92.a7 Ra8 93.Rb6 1-0

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Grand Prix Dead?

First Carlsen dropped out. Now Adams dropped out. Presumably AlModiakhi (who was Qatar's nominee) and Pelletier (who was Montreux's nominee) have been kicked out, since he was Qatar's nominee and Qatar is no longer a sponsor. Akopian is in, but that still leaves the circuit three players (each of whom had already participated in one event) down.

Edited 12/14 to add: Eljanov, Alekseev and Kasimdzhanov have been added on the basis of their ratings. That's actually a good thing as far as the chess is concerned, since Pelletier and AlModiakhi were very weak compared to the rest of the field, rated 100 and 200 points below average respectively. However, this still leaves unresolved the problem that three of the new players (Akopian is the exception since Pelletier had not yet participated) are down one tournament. I assume they are going to get around this by dropping each participant's lowest score in determining the overall winner? Whatever.

Furthermore, Kiev's participation as a replacement venue for Montreux is still unverified. FIDE as usual has f'ed this up royally. I predict (big stretch here) that the GP series will NOT be completed.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Olympiad Round 11 Results (Final)

MEN:
Gold - Armenia (+9 =1 -1)
Silver - Israel (+8 =2 -1)
Bronze - USA (+8 =1 -2) on tiebreak over Ukraine, by beating them 3.5-0.5 in the last round

WOMEN:
Gold - Georgia (+8 =2 -1) on tiebreak
Silver - Ukraine (+7 =4 -0)
Bronze - USA (+8 =1 -2) on tiebreak over Russia and Poland

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Olympiad Round 10 Results

MEN:
1 Armenia (+8 =1 -1)
2 Ukraine (+7 =3 -0)
3-4 Israel and China (both +7 =2 -1)
Russia, Netherlands, Spain and USA follow with 7.5 points

WOMEN:
1 Poland (+8 =1 -1)
2 Ukraine (+6 =4 -0)
3-4 Georgia and Serbia (both +7 =2 -1)
USA and Russia follow with 7.5 points

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Olympiad Round 9 Results

MEN:
1 8 Israel (+7 =2 -0)
2 9 Armenia (+7 =1 -1)
3 2 Ukraine (+6 =3 -0)
China, England and Serbia follow with 7 match points

WOMEN:
1 2 Ukraine (+6 =3 -0)
2 9 Poland (+7 =1 -1)
3 10 Serbia (+7 =1 -1)
China, Georgia and Armenia follow with 7 match points

Friday, November 21, 2008

Olympiad Round 8 Results

MEN:
1 Armenia (+7 =1 -0)
2 Israel (+6 =2 -0)
3-4 Russia (+6 =1 -1) and Ukraine (+5 =3 -0)
Then there follow Azerbaijan, Germany 1, China, Vietnam, France, Slovakia, England, Poland and Serbia, each with a score of 6.

WOMEN:
1 China (+6 =2 -0)
2-5 USA (+6 =1 -1), Ukraine (+5 =3 -0), Poland (+6 =1 -1) and Serbia (+6 =1 -1)
There follow Georgia, Armenia, Slovenia and Romania at 6 points.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Olympiad Round 7 Results

MEN:
1 9 Armenia ARM
7
6
1
0
13
165.0
58.0
20.5
2 11 Germany 1 GER1
7
5
2
0
12
149.5
59.0
19.0
3 8 Israel ISR
7
5
2
0
12
141.5
50.0
19.0
4 7 France FRA
7
5
2
0
12
137.0
55.0
19.0

WOMEN:
1 3 China CHN 7 6 1 0 13 176.0 61.0 20.5
2 2 Ukraine UKR 7 5 2 0 12 161.0 55.0 20.5
3 1 Russia RUS 7 4 3 0 11 166.0 60.0 20.0
4 7 USA USA 7 5 1 1 11 156.0 57.0 20.5
5 8 Hungary HUN 7 5 1 1 11 154.0 59.0 20.0
6 10 Serbia SRB 7 5 1 1 11 133.0 56.0 18.5
7 9 Poland POL 7 5 1 1 11 132.0 62.0 17.5
8 11 India IND 7 5 1 1 11 127.5 56.0 17.0

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Olympiad Round 6 Results

MEN:
1 9 Armenia ARM
6
5
1
0
11
118.0
43.0
18.0
2 1 Russia RUS
6
5
1
0
11
116.5
44.0
16.0
3 11 Germany 1 GER1
6
4
2
0
10
116.5
46.0
16.5
4 2 Ukraine UKR
6
4
2
0
10
107.0
47.0
14.0
5 13 India IND
6
5
0
1
10
102.0
40.0
16.0
6 8 Israel ISR
6
4
2
0
10
97.5
37.0
16.0
7 7 France FRA
6
4
2
0
10
97.0
39.0
16.5
8 3 China CHN
6
5
0
1
10
96.5
40.0
16.0
9 14 Romania ROU
6
5
0
1
10
95.5
38.0
16.0

WOMEN:
1 3 China CHN
6
6
0
0
12
138.5
45.0
18.5
2 1 Russia RUS
6
4
2
0
10
114.0
41.0
18.0
3 17 Netherlands NED
6
5
0
1
10
110.0
44.0
16.0
4 2 Ukraine UKR
6
4
2
0
10
109.0
40.0
17.0
5 7 USA USA
6
5
0
1
10
102.5
35.0
18.5
6 9 Poland POL
6
5
0
1
10
99.5
46.0
15.5

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Olympiad Round 5 Results

Men:
No perfect scores left.
1 Russia (+4 =1 -0)
2 Armenia (+4 =1 -0)
3 Germany 1 (+4 =1 -0)
Azerbaijan, Ukraine, England all close behind at +4 =1 -0.

Women:
1 China (+5 =0 -0)
2 Hungary (+4 =1 -0)
3 Russia (+3 =2 -0)
Romania, Georgia, Netherlands, Armenia, Ukraine, Poland, England, USA, Uzbekistan, Austria all close behind with 4 points.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Olympiad Round 4 Standings

MEN:
1 Germany 1 (4-0-0)
2 Russia (4-0-0)
3 Armenia (3-1-0)
Hungary, Norway, Azerbaijan, England, Ukraine, Netherlands close behind at 3-1-0 as well.

WOMEN:
1 China (4-0-0)
2 Poland (4-0-0)
3 Russia (3-1-0)
Hungary, Georgia, India close behind at 3-1-0 as well.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Olympiad Round 3 Standings

MEN:
1st: Armenia
2nd-3rd: Germany 1, England
4th-5th: India, Romania
6th-7th: Russia, Norway
8th: Spain
9th: Ukraine

WOMEN:
1st-2nd: Hungary, Armenia
3rd: Poland
4th: Serbia
5th-6th: China, Georgia

Friday, November 14, 2008

Olympiad Round 2 Standings

The scoring in this Olympiad is stoooooopid. The first tiebreak is "Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)". DUH!!! That will always yield exactly the same results and ranking as the actual score of the team; it doesn't resolve ANYTHING as a tiebreaker.

MEN:
1st-2nd: Azerbaijan, Armenia
3rd-7th: Tajikistan, Germany 1, Netherlands, Romania, Malaysia
8th-13th: Norway, China, India, England, Cuba, Faroe Islands
14th-18th: Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Japan
19th-20th: El Salvador, Malta

WOMEN:
1st-2nd: Russia, Venezuela
3rd-7th: Hungary, China, Denmark, Armenia, Israel
8th-11th: Poland, Mexico, India, Netherlands
12th-14th: Georgia, Serbia, Germany 2

US - men's team drew with Greece and women's team lost to Israel.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Olympiad Round 1 Standings

This year the winners are decided by match points as opposed to game points. The following teams have a score of 1-0, and they won their matches 4-0 so they have the best tiebreaks.

MEN:
Azerbaijan
Armenia
Poland
Moldova
Greece
Tajikistan
IPCA
Turkmenistan
Algeria
Kyrgyzstan
Syria
Tunisia
Iraq
Wales
Puerto Rico
Jamaica
Panama
Botswana

WOMEN:
Russia
Kyrgyzstan
Brazil
Indonesia
IPCA
Finland
Albania
Scotland
South Africa
Algeria
Guatemala
New Zealand
Wales
Uruguay
Puerto Rico
Costa Rica
Sri Lanka
Egypt

The official website is http://schachlive.dresden2008.de/

Thursday, November 06, 2008

FIDE continues to destroy professional chess

Candidates match for a challenger to Anand next year appears to be in limbo.

The Bulgarian Chess Federation had made a $150,000 bid for this special qualifier match for the world championship, but then Gata Kamsky's manager Alexander Chernenko offered a $750,000 prize fund for it in Lvov, Ukraine. Unfortunately the bank garantees were not forthcoming, and after a final deadline FIDE has reopened the bidding procedure.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

World Championship Game 11

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [B96]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.f5 Qc5 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.Nb3 Qe5 12.0-0-0 exf5 13.Qe3 Bg7 14.Rd5 Qe7 15.Qg3 Rg8 16.Qf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 f5 18.Nxd6+ Kf8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.Kb1 Qe1+ 21.Nc1 Ne7 22.Qd2 Qxd2 23.Rxd2 Bh6 24.Rf2 Be3 draw

Anand keeps title 6.5-4.5, last game not needed.

Monday, October 27, 2008

World Championship Game 10

Kramnik scores first win, score now 6-4 to Anand

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [E21]
27.10.20081.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.Re1 c5 19.Qa5 Rfc8 20.Be3 Be2 21.Bf4 e5 22.Be3 Bg4 23.Qa6 f6 24.a4 Qf7 25.Bf1 Be6 26.Rab1 c4 27.a5 Na4 28.Rb7 Qe8 29.Qd6 1-0

Sunday, October 26, 2008

World Championship Game 9

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D43]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Rd1 Bb4 12.Ne5 Qe7 13.0-0 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 0-0 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.f4 Qg7 17.e5 c5 18.Nxb5 cxd4 19.Qxc4 a5 20.Kh1 Rac8 21.Qxd4 gxf4 22.Bf3 Ba6 23.a4 Rc5 24.Qxf4 Rxe5 25.b3 Bxb5 26.axb5 Rxb5 27.Be4 Bc3 28.Bc2 Be5 29.Qf2 Bb8 30.Qf3 Rc5 31.Bd3 Rc3 32.g3 Kh8 33.Qb7 f5 34.Qb6 Qe5 35.Qb7 Qc7 36.Qxc7 Bxc7 37.Bc4 Re8 38.Rd7 a4 39.Rxc7 axb3 40.Rf2 Rb8 41.Rb2 h5 42.Kg2 h4 43.Rc6 hxg3 44.hxg3 Rg8 45.Rxe6 Rxc4 draw

Kramnik must now win all remaining three games just to go into tiebreaks.

Friday, October 24, 2008

World Championship Game 8

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D37]
[Annotations by IM Malcolm Pein]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qa5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxf6 Bxb5 (Astonishing, this is a novelty and so early in a sharp line. Kramnik outprepared again.) 11.Ndxb5 (11.Nb3 Qb6 12.Bxg7 Rg8 13.Bd4 Bxc3+ 14.Bxc3 Rxg2) gxf6 12.0-0 Nc6 (12...Bxc3 13.Nxc3 Rg8 14.Qb3 Qg5 15.g3+/-) 13.a3 (13.Nd6+ Ke7! 14.Nxb7 Qc7 15.Qb3 Rab8) Bxc3 14.Nxc3 Rg8 15.f4 (An aggressive move, White takes away the e5 square from Black's knight and considers f4-f5.) Rd8 16.Qe1 (Heading for h4 to attack and just shadowing the enemy king. Black is weakened but active.) Qb6+ 17.Rf2 (17.Kh1 Qxb2 18.Rb1?? Qxg2#) Rd3 (A risky thrust into the enemy position that threatens Rf3.) 18.Qe2 Qd4 19.Re1 a6!? (Preventing Nb5 but asking for Nd5, no demanding it! But 19...a6 20.Nd5 exd5 21.exd5+ is really not much for White.) 20.Kh1 Kf8 21.Ref1 Rg6 (A great move covering f6. Kramnik was building up for f5 but this neutralises it. Black is very well centralised apart from this rook which Kramnik tries to cut out of the game.) 22.g3 (Trying to prepare f5 and emphasising the isolation of the rook on g6. 22.f5 exf5 23.Rxf5 Rd2 24.Qf3 Ne5-+) Kg7 23.Rd1 (Hoping to leave Black with a poorly placed rook but the loss of time allows Anand to solve all his problems. However 23.f5 exf5 24.exf5 Rg4 25.Rf4 Rxf4 26.Rxf4 Qe3=) Rxd1+ 24.Nxd1 Kh8 25.Nc3 Rg8 (Simple stuff, Anand uses Kramnik's loss of time to reorganise and castle by hand. This looks very level now.) 26.Kg2 Rd8= 27.Qh5 Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh8 29.Qh5 Kg7 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Qh4 Kg7 32.e5 f5 (Anand avoids complications where possible. There was no point going into 32...fxe5 33.Qg5+ Kh8 34.Qf6+ Kg8 35.fxe5 Rd7 36.Rf4 Qxe5 37.Ne4) 33.Qf6+ Kg8 34.Qg5+ Kh8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Re2 (g4 is impractical so White can achieve nothing here, another success for Anand.) 36...Qc4 37.Qg5+ Kh8 38.Qf6+ Kg8 39.Qg5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Anand is one point away from the finish line.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

World Championship Game 7

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D19]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Bg6 10.e4 0-0 11.Bd3 Bh5 12.e5 Nd5 13.Nxd5 cxd5 14.Qe3 Re8 15.Ne1 Bg6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Nd3 Qb6 18.Nxb4 Qxb4 19.b3 Rac8 20.Ba3 Qc3 21.Rac1 Qxe3 22.fxe3 f6 23.Bd6 g5 24.h3 Kf7 25.Kf2 Kg6 26.Ke2 fxe5 27.dxe5 b6 28.b4 Rc4 29.Rxc4 dxc4 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g4 a5 32.b5 c3 33.Rc2 Kf7 34.Kd3 Nc5+ 35.Bxc5 Rxc5 36.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 37.Kxc3 Draw

Annotations at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4972

Anand leads 5-2 and needs only 1.5 points out of the next five games to win the match.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Eight Greatest Players Of All Time

According to ChessMetrics historical rankings over 1-15 year periods...


Player            1 yr 2 yr 3 yr 4 yr 5 yr 10 yr 15 yr
Garry Kasparov     2    1    1    1    1     1     1
Emanuel Lasker     5    3    4    2    2     2     3
José Capablanca    4    5    3    3    3     4     4
Bobby Fischer      1    2    2    4    5     5     7
Mikhail Botvinnik  3    4    5    5    4     6     6
Anatoly Karpov     7    7    7    7    6     3     2
Alexander Alekhine 6    6    6    6    7     8     5
Viswanathan Anand  8    8    8    8    8     7     8


(It's only fitting that something historic like this be the subject of my 500th post in this blog.)

World Championship Game 6

Anand wins again, 3-0

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [E34]
21.10.20081.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nf3 Qf5 7.Qb3 Nc6 8.Bd2 0-0 9.h3 b6 10.g4 Qa5 11.Rc1 Bb7 12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Qd5 14.Qxd5 Nxd5 15.Bd2 Nf6 16.Rg1 Rac8 17.Bg2 Ne7 18.Bb4 c5 19.dxc5 Rfd8 20.Ne5 Bxg2 21.Rxg2 bxc5 22.Rxc5 Ne4 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd3 Nd5 25.Bd2 Rc2 26.Bc1 f5 27.Kd1 Rc8 28.f3 Nd6 29.Ke1 a5 30.e3 e5 31.gxf5 e4 32.fxe4 Nxe4 33.Bd2 a4 34.Nf2 Nd6 35.Rg4 Nc4 36.e4 Nf6 37.Rg3 Nxb2 38.e5 Nd5 39.f6 Kf7 40.Ne4 Nc4 41.fxg7 Kg8 42.Rd3 Ndb6 43.Bh6 Nxe5 44.Nf6+ Kf7 45.Rc3 Rxc3 46.g8Q+ Kxf6 47.Bg7+ 1-0

Commentary at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4973

Monday, October 20, 2008

World Championship Game 5

Anand up 2-0.

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D49]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Rg8 16.Bf4 Bd6 17.Bg3 f5 18.Rfc1 f4 19.Bh4 Be7 20.a4 Bxh4 21.Nxh4 Ke7 22.Ra3 Rac8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Ra1 Qc5 25.Qg4 Qe5 26.Nf3 Qf6 27.Re1 Rc5 28.b4 Rc3 29.Nxd4 Qxd4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 Ne3 35.fxe3 fxe3 0-1

Commentary at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4969

Saturday, October 18, 2008

World Championship Game 4

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [D37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.a3 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.Be5 Bf5 12.Be2 Bf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd4 Ne6 15.Nxf5 Qxf5 16.0-0 Rfd8 17.Bg4 Qe5 18.Qb3 Nc5 19.Qb5 b6 20.Rfd1 Rd6 21.Rd4 a6 22.Qb4 h5 23.Bh3 Rad8 24.g3 g5 25.Rad1 g4 26.Bg2 Ne6 27.R4d3 d4 28.exd4 Rxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 ½-½

Friday, October 17, 2008

World Championship Game 3

First Blood - Anand wins with Black

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D49]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0-0 Qb6 14.Qe2 Bb7 15.Bxb5 Bd6 16.Rd1 Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxd4 h5 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Rxd7 Kf8 22.Qd3 Rg7 23.Rxg7 Kxg7 24.gxf4 Rd8 25.Qe2 Kh6 26.Kf1 Rg8 27.a4 Bg2+ 28.Ke1 Bh3 29.Ra3 Rg1+ 30.Kd2 Qd4+ 31.Kc2 Bg4 32.f3 Bf5+ 33.Bd3 Bh3 34.a5 Rg2 35.a6 Rxe2+ 36.Bxe2 Bf5+ 37.Kb3 Qe3+ 38.Ka2 Qxe2 39.a7 Qc4+ 40.Ka1 Qf1+ 41.Ka2 Bb1+ 0-1

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

World Championship Game 2

Anand,V (2783) - Kramnik,V (2772) [E25]
[Comments by IM Malcolm Pein]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 f5 9.Qc2 Nd7 (A cunning choice to avoid a prepared idea. Kramnik avoids the main lines with 9...0-0 10.e4 or 9...f4 10.e4 fxe3 11.Bd3.) 10.e4 fxe4 11.fxe4 N5f6 12.c6 (As in game one Anand avoids pawn weaknesses. The c3 pawn might be targeted if Black could organize Nd7xc5 and Qd8-c7.) bxc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 (14.Be2 was possible. Had Vishy managed to place his bishops on c4 and e3 he may have had an edge. Now it seems roughly level.) Ba6 (Kramnik wants to exchange one bishop because White's bishop pair can be strong.) 15.c4 Qc5 16.Bd3 Ng4 17.Bb4 Qe3+ 18.Qe2 0-0-0 19.Qxe3 Nxe3 20.Kf2 Ng4+ 21.Kg3 Ndf6 (Opening up the rook on d8 to attack the bishop on d3. An active choice but is also risky and entails a pawn sacrifice.) 22.Bb1 h5 23.h3 h4+ 24.Nxh4 Ne5 25.Nf3 Nh5+ 26.Kf2 Nxf3 27.Kxf3 e5! (Kramnik has compensation for the sacrificed pawn based on the poor bishop on b1, open files for his rooks and the agility of his knight in a closed position.) 28.Rc1 Nf4 29.Ra2 31.Bc2 Ne6 32.Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

World Championship Game 1

Kramnik,V (2772) - Anand,V (2783) [D14]

[Comments by IM Malcolm Pein]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 0-0 10.Bxc6 (10.0-0 Bxc3 11.Bxc6 Bxb2 12.Bxb7 Bxa1 13.Rxa1 Rc8 14.Bxc8 Qxc8 15.Qa3 Qb7 16.Rc1 Rc8 17.Rxc8+ Qxc8 18.Ne5 Nd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.Qa6 and in Malakhov-Ivanchuk White calmly exploited his better placed queen by playing Bf4-b8xa7 and he won. This shows the pleasant edge White can achieve sometimes in this line and Black has to struggle to equalize completely.) 10...Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8 (Here and on the next move Anand avoids bxc6 when the pawn would be very weak. White can easily exert control over c5 and then lay siege to the pawn. 11...bxc6 12.Qxc6 Qa5+ 13.Qc3 Qxc3+ 14.bxc3 Ne4; 11...bxc6 12.0-0 Qb6 13.Rfc1 and c5 is weak.) 12.Ne5 Ng4 (12...bxc6 Leaves Black with a permanently weak pawn on an open file.) 13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4 (14.Qa3 Rxc6 15.Qxa7 Rc2 16.0-0 Be2 17.Rfc1 Rxb2) Rxc6! (Avoiding the structural weakness referred to above even at the cost of a pawn. If there is one man who can make your life miserable if you have a bad pawn structure it is Kramnik.) 15.Qxb7 Qc8 16.Qxc8 (16.Qb3 Qa6 and Rfc8-c2 is coming.) Rfxc8 (Black has compensation for the pawn. He controls the c file completely and has active rooks.) 17.0-0 a5 18.f3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.b3 (20.Kf2 Rc2+ 21.Re2 Rxe2+ 22.Kxe2 Rc2+) f6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd8 23.Rad1 Rc2 (White cannot stay a pawn ahead and d5 is well met by e5. The next few moves just force simplification and a draw, a minor victory for Anand who made light of the attempted squeeze.) 24.e5 (24.a4 e5 25.dxe5 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 fxe5 27.Bxe5 Bxe4; 24.d5 e5; 24.Rc3 e5) fxe5 (24...Rxa2 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Rxe6 Bc2=) 25.Bxe5 Rxa2 26.Ra1 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Rd5 28.Rc1 Rd7 (28...Rb5 29.Rc7 Rxb3 30.Rxg7+ Kf8 is also harmless.) 29.Rc5 Ra7 30.Rc7 Rxc7 31.Bxc7 Bc2 32.Bxa5 Bxb3 1/2-1/2

Official website is http://www.uep-worldchess.com/

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

FIDE Rating List

1 Topalov, Veselin BUL 2791
2 Morozevich, Alexander RUS 2787
3 Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 2786
4 Carlsen, Magnus NOR 2786
5 Anand, Viswanathan IND 2783
6 Kramnik, Vladimir RUS 2772
7 Aronian, Levon ARM 2757
8 Radjabov, Teimour AZE 2751
9 Leko, Peter HUN 2747
10 Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 2737
11 Wang, Yue CHN 2736

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Kasparov on K-K I and II

The second book in the Modern Chess series is out. My copy arrived today. Very interesting. Of course, I did notice that he's managing to milk a third book out of the K-K rivalry, rather than the original two volume discussion he originally planned. At the very least, I hope he doesn't make us wait another year and a half before the next volume is released.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Topalov wins Bilbao; Disaster for Anand

Veselin Topalov +4 =5 -1, 17 points
Magnus Carlsen +3 =4 -3, 13 points
Levon Aronian +3 =4 -3, 13 points
Vassily Ivanchuk +2 =6 -2, 12 points
Teimur Radjabov +1 =7 -2, 10 points
Vishy Anand +0 =8 -2, 8 points

Saturday, September 06, 2008

Bilbao at the halfway mark

They have instituted a rule of 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw. I hate draws as much as anyone, but I don't like that. Anyway after five rounds standings are

Veselin Topalov +2 =3 -0, 9 points
Magnus Carlsen +2 =2 -1, 8 points
Levon Aronian, +1 =3 -1, 6 points
Vishy Anand, +0 =4 -1, 4 points
Teimur Radjabov, +0 =4 -1, 4 points
Vassily Ivanchuk, +0 =4 -1, 4 points

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Ivanchuk wins Tal Memorial

Morozevich, Gelfand, Ponomariov, Kramink tie for 2nd a full point behind at +1.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Sochi Round 13 - Aronian wins

Aronian (2737) - Grischuk (2728) [D47]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 b4 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Bd6 12.a3 bxa3 13.b3 Nf6 14.Nd2 Qc7 15.Bf3 Bxh2+ 16.Kh1 Bd6 17.Nc4 Be7 18.Bxa3 0-0 19.Bc5 Rfd8 20.b4 Bxc5 21.bxc5 a5 22.Re1 Ba6 23.Nb6 Rab8 24.Rxa5 Bb5 25.Qa1 Nd5 26.Ra7 Rb7 27.Rxb7 Qxb7 28.Qa5 Qe7 29.Ra1 Qg5 30.Nxd5 exd5 31.Qc7 g6 32.Ra7 Qf6 33.Bg4 Re8 34.Kg1 Kg7 35.Bd7 Re7 36.Qd8 h5 37.Ra8 Kh6 38.Rc8 Kh7 39.Bxc6 Bxc6 40.Rxc6 Qxc6 41.Qxe7 Kg7 42.Kh2 1-0

Karjakin (2727) - Radjabov (2744) [B78]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Kb1 a6 13.h4 h5 14.g4 hxg4 15.h5 Nxh5 16.Rdg1 Qa5 17.Bh6 Bf6 18.fxg4 Bxg4 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.Qe3 Rxc3 21.Qxc3 Qxc3 22.bxc3 e6 23.Bc4 Nxc4 24.Rxg4 Be5 25.Rg2 b5 26.Rf2 Kg8 27.a4 bxa4 28.Ka2 Nf6 29.Re2 d5 30.exd5 Nxd5 31.Rh3 Bxd4 32.cxd4 Nf4 33.Reh2 Nxh3 34.Rxh3 g5 35.Rg3 f6 36.Rc3 Nd2 37.Rd3 Ne4 38.c4 Kf7 39.c5 g4 40.c6 Ke7 41.d5 exd5 42.c7 Kd7 43.Rxd5+ Kxc7 44.Rf5 g3 45.Rf4 Kd7 46.Kb2 Ke6 47.Rxe4+ Kf5 48.Re1 Kg4 49.Kc2 g2 50.Kd2 Kg3 51.Ke2 a3 52.Ra1 a2 0-1

Gashimov (2717) - Svidler (2738) [C92]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Re8 10.d4 Bb7 11.a4 Qd7 12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 g6 16.Ra3 bxa4 17.Rxa4 a5 18.Ra3 Bg7 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxe5 Nfd5 21.Ne4 Qb5 22.Bd2 Nb6 23.Nc3 Qd7 24.Be4 Bxe4 25.Rxe4 Nc6 26.Qe2 Nxe5 27.Nxe5 Rxe5 28.Rxe5 Bxe5 29.Qxe5 Qxd2 30.Ne4 Nd7 31.Nxd2 Nxe5 32.Rc3 Ra7 33.Nb3 Nd7 34.Rd3 Nb6 35.Nd4 c5 36.Nc6 Ra8 37.Rb3 Nc4 38.Rb5 a4 39.Ne7+ Kg7 40.Nd5 Rc8 41.Nc3 a3 42.bxa3 Nxa3 43.Rb7 c4 44.Ra7 Nc2 45.Rd7 Nb4 46.Rd4 Nd3 47.g3 Kf6 48.Kf1 Ke5 49.Rd5+ Ke6 50.Rd4 f5 51.f4 Nc1 52.Rd5 Nb3 53.g4 Rf8 54.Re5+ Kd6 55.Kf2 fxg4 56.Re4 gxh3 57.Rxc4 g5 58.Kg3 h2 59.Kxh2 Rxf4 60.Rxf4 gxf4 61.Ne4+ Ke5 62.Ng5 h5 63.Kh3 Nc5 64.Kh4 Ne6 65.Nh3 Ng7 66.Kg5 f3 67.Kg6 h4 68.Kg5 Ke4 69.Kxh4 Ke3 70.Kg4 Ne6 71.Kg3 Nd4 72.Kh2 Ne2 73.Kh1 Nf4 74.Nxf4 Kxf4 75.Kg1 Ke3 0-1

Navara (2646) - Kamsky (2723) [D87]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Qd2 e5 13.dxe5 Be6 14.Rad1 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Bxc4 16.f4 Qe7 17.Qc2 Rad8 18.Rfe1 h5 19.Nc1 Qe6 20.Rd2 Bb5 21.Nb3 Qc4 22.Bf2 g5 23.Bg3 gxf4 24.Bxf4 Qe6 25.Rd6 Rxd6 26.exd6 Qf6 27.Qf2 Qxc3 28.e5 Re8 29.Nd2 Bc6 30.h3 Qd3 31.Re3 Qd4 32.Nf1 h4 33.Nh2 Bxe5 34.Rxe5 Qa1+ 35.Qf1 Qd4+ 36.Be3 Qxe5 37.Ng4 Qc3 38.Nh6+ Kh8 39.Nxf7+ Kg7 40.Bh6+ Kg6 0-1

Jakovenko (2709) - Cheparinov (2687) [C67]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Ne4 h6 12.b3 c5 13.Bb2 Be6 14.Nfd2 h5 15.Ng5 Be7 16.Nxe6+ fxe6 17.g3 h4 18.Kg2 Kd7 19.Rae1 Rad8 20.Nf3 Ke8 21.Rd1 a5 22.a4 Rd5 23.c4 Rd8 24.Bc1 Rf8 25.Rfe1 Rf7 26.Rxd8+ Bxd8 27.Re4 hxg3 28.fxg3 Rd7 29.h4 Rd3 30.Re3 Rd7 31.h5 Ne7 32.g4 Nc6 33.g5 Ne7 34.Re2 Nf5 35.Rd2 Rf7 36.Rd3 Rf8 37.Kh3 c6 38.Kg4 Bc7 39.Be3 b6 40.g6 Bd8 41.Bf4 Bc7 42.Nd2 Nh6+ 43.Bxh6 gxh6 44.Rd6 Bxd6 45.exd6 e5 46.Ne4 Rf4+ 47.Kg3 Rf1 48.Kg2 Rf4 49.Nf6+ Rxf6 50.d7+ 1-0

Final Results at Sochi:
1. Aronian
2. Radjabov
3-4. Wang, Kamsky
5-7. Svidler, Jakovenko, Karjakin
8-9. Ivanchuk, Gashimov
10-11. Grischuk, Cheparinov
12. Gelfand
13-14. Navara, AlModiahki

Grand Prix Points after two tournaments:
Wang = 273.33 (2)
Gashimov = 218.33 (2)
Radjabov = 210 (2)
Aronian = 180 (1)
Kamsky = 180 (2)
Svidler = 175 (2)
Carlsen = 153.33 (1)
Karjakin, Grischuk = 150 (2)
Memadyarov = 105 (1)
Jakovenko = 90 (1)
Adams = 85 (1)
Cheparinov = 80 (2)
Ivanchuk = 65 (1)
Navara = 50 (2)
Gelfand = 30 (1)
Bacrot, Inarkiev, AlModiahki = 15 (1)
Pelletier, Leko = 0 (0)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Sochi Round 12

Svidler (2738) - Jakovenko (2709) [D37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nxc5 9.Be2 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Bd7 11.0-0 Qb6 12.Rfd1 Rfd8 13.Be2 Be8 14.Nd2 Nd5 15.Nc4 Nb4 16.Nxb6 Nxc2 17.Nxa8 Nxa1 18.Rxd8 Bxd8 19.Bd6 Na4 20.Nd1 Bf6 21.b3 Nc3 22.Nxc3 Bxc3 23.Bf3 Bc6 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Bc5 a6 26.Nc7 a5 27.Na6 Nc2 28.Nb8 Nb4 29.Bxb4 axb4 30.Nxc6 Kf8 31.Kf1 e5 32.e4 Ke8 33.Ke2 Kd7 34.Na5 Bd4 35.f3 Bb6 36.Nc4 Bc7 37.Ne3 Kc6 38.Nf5 g6 39.Nh6 f6 40.Kd3 Kc5 41.Nf7 Bb6 42.h4 Kb5 43.h5 Bc5 44.hxg6 hxg6 45.Nh8 g5 46.Nf7 Bb6 47.Nd6+ Kc5 48.Nf5 Kb5 49.g3 Bc5 50.Kd2 Bf8 51.Ke2 Bc5 52.Kf1 Kc6 53.Kg2 Kd7 54.Kh3 Ke6 55.Kg4 Kf7 56.Kh5 Bf8 57.g4 Be7 58.Kh6 Bc5 59.Kh7 Bf8 60.Kh8 Bc5 61.Nh6+ Kg6 62.Nf5 Kf7 63.Kh7 Bf8 64.Ne3 Bc5 65.Nc4 Bf8 66.Na5 Bd6 67.Nc6 Bc5 68.Nd8+ Ke7 69.Nb7 Bb6 70.Kg7 Ke6 71.Kf8 Kd7 72.Kf7 Kc7 73.Kxf6 Kxb7 74.Kxg5 Kc6 75.Kf6 Kd6 76.g5 Bd8+ 77.Kf5 Bb6 78.Kg6 Bd8 79.Kh6 Ke7 80.Kg7 1-0

Standings:
Aronian at +3
Wang, Karjakin, Radjabov at +2
Kamsky, Gashimov at +1

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Sochi Round 11

Jakovenko (2709) - Gashimov (2717) [A61]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.e4 0-0 9.Bd3 a6 10.a4 Re8 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Re1 b6 13.Bf4 Qc7 14.Qd2 Bb7 15.Bc4 Nh5 16.Bh2 h6 17.Rad1 Kh7 18.Qc2 Re7 19.Be2 Kg8 20.Nd2 Nhf6 21.Nc4 Ne8 22.f4 Bd4+ 23.Kh1 Rd8 24.Bf3 Qb8 25.Ne2 Bg7 26.Nc3 b5 27.axb5 axb5 28.Nxb5 Bxd5 29.exd5 Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1 Qxb5 31.f5 Qb4 32.Rf1 g5 33.Nxd6 Nxd6 34.Bxd6 Be5 35.Bxe5 Nxe5 36.Qe2 Nxf3 37.Rxf3 c4 38.f6 Rxd5 39.Re3 Rd8 40.Re8+ Rxe8 41.Qxe8+ Qf8 42.Qxf8+ Kxf8 43.Kg1 Ke8 44.Kf2 Kd7 45.Ke3 Ke6 46.Kd4 Kxf6 47.Kxc4 Ke6 48.b4 f5 49.b5 g4 50.hxg4 fxg4 51.Kd4 Kd6 52.Ke4 1-0

Aronian (2737) - Gelfand (2720) [E15]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 c5 14.exd5 exd5 15.dxc5 dxc4 16.cxb6 Nxb6 17.Re1 cxb3 18.Qxb3 Nd7 19.Nf3 Bc4 20.Qb2 Bf6 21.Bxf6 Nxf6 22.Ne5 Bd5 23.Rad1 Qa5 24.Bxd5 Nxd5 25.Nd7 Rfd8 26.Qe5 1-0

Karjakin (2727) - Cheparinov (2687) [B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 h6 7.Nbd2 Ne7 8.Nb3 Nc8 9.Be3 Be7 10.Nfd2 0-0 11.f4 Ncb6 12.a4 a5 13.c3 f6 14.exf6 Nxf6 15.Nc5 Bxc5 16.dxc5 Nbd7 17.b4 Ne4 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Qe1 Qe7 20.Qg3 Bf5 21.Bd4 Nf6 22.Qe3 Ne4 23.Rfb1 g5 24.Rf1 Kh7 25.bxa5 Bg6 26.Be5 gxf4 27.Bxf4 Qxc5 28.Qxc5 Nxc5 29.Be5 Rf5 30.Rxf5 Bxf5 31.Rf1 Nxa4 32.g4 Rg8 33.Rf4 Nc5 34.Rb4 h5 35.h3 hxg4 36.hxg4 Bd3 37.Bxd3+ Nxd3 38.Rxb7+ Kh6 39.Bg7+ Kg5 40.Bd4 e5 41.Bb6 Ra8 42.Ra7 Rb8 43.Rg7+ Kf4 44.g5 Kf5 45.Rc7 c5 46.Rc6 d4 47.cxd4 cxd4 48.a6 Nb4 49.Rf6+ Kxg5 50.a7 Ra8 51.Rd6 d3 52.Kf2 Rc8 53.Rd8 Rc2+ 54.Kg3 1-0

AlModiahki (2556) - Svidler (2738) [B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.dxc5 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 e6 7.h3 Bh5 8.Nb3 Bxc5 9.Nxc5 Qa5+ 10.c3 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qa5 12.Qb3 Nge7 13.Nd4 Rb8 14.f4 0-0 15.Bd3 Bg6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.0-0 b5 18.Nxc6 Nxc6 19.Bc5 Rfc8 20.Bd6 Rb7 21.Kh2 Qb6 22.a4 Na5 23.Qxb5 Qd8 24.Qe2 Nc4 25.Ba3 Rb3 26.Qd1 Qb6 27.a5 Qb5 28.Bb4 Rxb2 29.Qd4 Nd2 30.Rf2 Nb3 31.Rxb2 Nxd4 32.cxd4 Rc4 33.Rab1 Qa4 34.Bc5 Qxa5 35.Rb8+ Kh7 36.R8b7 Qd2 37.Rxf7 Rc2 38.Rg1 a5 39.Kh1 a4 40.Re7 Qe3 41.Rxe6 a3 42.Ra6 a2 0-1

Standings:
Aronian at +3
Wang, Karjakin, Radjabov at +2
Kamsky, Gashimov, Jakovenko at +1

Monday, August 11, 2008

Sochi Round 10 - Some Excitement At Last

Cheparinov-Aronian
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 e6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bd2 Re8 11. Qd1 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Qe7 13. Qc2 e5 14. Rae1 Rad8 15. Bb3 Bb8 16. Ne2 Qd6 17. g3 Nb6 18. Qf5 Nbd5 19. Qf3 e4 20. Qg2 h5 21. Nf4 g6 22. Rc1 Nh7 23. Ba5 b6 24. Bd2 Ng5 25. Bd1 h4 26. gxh4 Nxf4 27. exf4 Ne6 28. h5 Nxd4 29. Be3 c5 30. Bxd4 cxd4 31. Ba4 Re7 32. Rc6 Qxf4 33. hxg6 f5 34. Rfc1 d3 35. Rc8 Kg7 36. R1c4 Rxc8 37. Rxc8 Rc7 38. Rxc7+ Bxc7 39. Bd7 a6 40. h4 b5 41. Qh3 d2 0-1

Gelfand-Ivanchuk
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. e4 a6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Be3 O-O 12. Rc1 Re8 13. f4 Bf8 14. f5 h6 15. Rf1 Nbd7 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Bh3 Qc5 18. b4 Qxc4 19. Nd5 Qxa2 20. Rf2 Qxf2+ 21. Bxf2 exd5 22. Bxd7 Nxd7 23. Rc7 Bc8 24. Nf5 Ne5 25. Qh5 Re6 26. Bd4 Rf6 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Nxh6+ gxh6 29. Qxe5 Rd6 30. Qh5 Bd7 31. e5 Be8 32. Qf3 Rdd8 33. Qf5 Bg7 34. Qg4 Bf7 35. e6 Rf8 36. Rxf7 Rxf7 37. exf7+ Kxf7 38. Qd7+ 1-0

Gashimov-AlModiahki
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Qb6 7. Nde2 e6 8. Bb3 Be7 9. Be3 Qc7 10. Qd2 a6 11. O-O-O Ng4 12. f4 Nxe3 13. Qxe3 O-O 14. Rhf1 b5 15. f5 b4 16. Na4 Na5 17. Ng3 Nxb3+ 18. axb3 Kh8 19. Nh5 exf5 20. exf5 Bb7 21. f6 gxf6 22. Rde1 Rfe8 23. Nb6 Rab8 24. Qh6 Rg8 25. Nxf6 Rg7 26. Nbd5 Qa5 27. Nxe7 Qa1+ 28. Kd2 Qxb2 29. g4 Qc3+ 30. Kd1 Bf3+ 31. Rxf3 Qxf3+ 32. Kc1 Qc3 33. Re3 Qa1+ 34. Kd2 Qd4+ 35. Ke2 Qc5 36. Nf5 Qxc2+ 37. Kf3 Qd1+ 38. Kf2 Qc2+ 39. Re2 Qc5+ 40. Kf1 1-0

Radjabov-Navara
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Bb4 8. Bd3 d6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. O-O e5 11. h3 exf4 12. Bxf4 O-O 13. e5 Bxc3 14. bxc3 dxe5 15. Bxe5 Nd5 16. Qh5 f5 17. Rae1 Qe8 18. Qh4 Qd8 19. Qd4 Qd7 20. c4 Nf6 21. Bd6 Ne8 22. c5 Nxd6 23. cxd6 Qa7 24. Qxa7 Rxa7 25. Re7 1-0

Svidler-Karjakin
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 c5 6. d5 exd5 7. cxd5 Bb7 8. Bg2 Nxd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Qe4 Na6 11. Nh4 g6 12. Qe5 f6 13. Qe4 Qc8 14. Rd1 Nac7 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16. Qxg6+ Kd8 17. a3 b5 18. e4 Nb6 19. Nc3 Ne6 20. b4 cxb4 21. Nd5 Nf8 22. Qg7 Rh7 23. Qg8 Nxd5 24. exd5 d6 25. axb4 Qf5 26. Be3 a6 27. Rac1 Rc8 28. Bb6+ Ke8 29. h4 Qg6 30. Qxg6+ Nxg6 31. Rxc8+ Bxc8 32. Rc1 Bf5 33. Ra1 Rg7 34. Kh2 Bc8 35. Rc1 Bb7 36. f4 Bd8 37. Bd4 Kf7 0-1

Standings:
Wang, Gashimov, Aronian and Radjabov at +2
Cheparinov, Kamsky and Karjakin at +1
Grischuk, Ivanchuk and Jakovenko are even at 5/10

Three rounds to go!

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Sochi Round 9

Wang-Radjabov
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bxc5 Nc6 10. Nge2 b6 11. Ba3 Bb7 12. Rd1 a5 13. Nc1 Nb4 14. Bd3 Bh6 15. Nd5 Nfxd5 16. cxd5 e6 17. Bxb4 axb4 18. dxe6 Bxc1 19. e7 Rdc8 20. e8=Q+ Rxe8 21. Rxc1 f5 22. Rc7 Bd5 23. O-O fxe4 24. fxe4 Bxa2 25. Ra1 Bd5 26. Rxa8 Bxa8 27. Bb5 Re5 28. Bc4+ Kf8 29. Rc8+ Re8 30. Rxe8+ Kxe8 31. e5 Ke7 32. Kf2 Bc6 33. g3 g5 34. Ke3 h6 35. Kd4 Bd7 36. Bd5 Bb5 37. Bf3 Be8 38. Bg2 Ba4 39. Bd5 Bb5 40. Bg8 Kf8 41. Bc4 Ba4 42. Bd5 Bb5 43. Bf3 Ke7 44. Bg4 Bf1 45. Kd5 Bb5 46. Bf5 Be8 47. Kc4 b3 48. Kxb3 Bb5 49. Kc3 Be2 50. Kd4 Bb5 51. Kd5 Ba4 52. b4 Bb5 53. Bg4 Ba4 54. Bc8 Kd8 55. Ba6 Kd7 56. e6+ Ke7 57. Bc8 Bb5 58. Bd7 Be2 59. Kc6 b5 60. Kb6 Bc4 61. Bxb5 Bxe6 62. Kc7 1-0

Standings:
Cheparinov and Wang at +2
Gashimov, Radjabov, Kamsky, Aronian at +1
Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Jakovenko, Karjakin at 0

Friday, August 08, 2008

Sochi Round 8

Svidler-Ivanchuk
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Bg5 d6 7. Nbd2 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Nh5 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. d4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qf6 14. N2b3 Bb6 15. Qf3 Qxf3 16. gxf3 Kg7 17. g4 d5 18. Nf5+ Bxf5 19. gxf5 Rfe8 20. Nd2 Rad8 21. Rd1 dxe4 22. fxe4 Rd5 23. Ke2 Rxf5 24. Rh2 Rf4 25. f3 f5 0-1

Gelfand-Wang
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. g3 e6 10. Bg2 Bb4 11. O-O O-O 12. e3 h6 13. Qe2 Bh7 14. Rd1 Nfd7 15. Nd3 Qe7 16. e4 e5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Bc5 19. Be3 Bxe3 20. Qxe3 Nc4 21. Qe2 Nxe5 22. f4 Nd7 23. Rd4 Rfd8 24. Rad1 Nc5 25. Qe3 Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Nb3 27. Rd1 Re8 28. e5 Qc5 29. Qxc5 Nxc5 30. Bf1 Kf8 31. Kf2 Ke7 32. Ke3 f6 33. exf6+ Kxf6+ 34. Kf2 Bc2 35. Rc1 Bb3 36. Nd5+ Bxd5 37. Rxc5 Re4 38. Bg2 Rc4 39. Rxc4 Bxc4 40. Ke3 Bb3 41. Kd4 Bxa4 42. Kc5 Bb3 43. Be4 a4 44. h4 Bd1 45. Kd6 h5 46. Bd3 Bf3 47. Kc5 b5 48. Bc2 Ke6 49. Bg6 Kd7 50. Bc2 Kc7 51. b3 a3 52. Bb1 Be4 53. Ba2 Kd7 54. Kb4 Ke6 0-1

Kamsky-AlModiahki
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. Re1 e5 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. d3 Ne7 8. a3 a5 9. Be3 b6 10. Nbd2 a4 11. Qb1 Qc7 12. b3 O-O 13. bxa4 Rxa4 14. Qb3 Ra6 15. a4 Be6 16. Qc3 h6 17. Nb3 Bxb3 18. cxb3 Rd8 19. a5 Rxa5 20. Rxa5 bxa5 21. Bxc5 Nc8 22. h4 Nd6 23. Rc1 Nb5 24. Qc4 Rb8 25. Be3 Nd4 26. Bxd4 exd4 27. g3 Qb6 28. Nd2 Qb5 29. Kf1 Rd8 30. Ra1 Bf8 31. Qxb5 cxb5 32. Rxa5 Bb4 33. Ra2 Bxd2 34. Rxd2 Rc8 35. Ke2 Rc3 36. e5 f6 37. exf6 Kf7 38. Kf3 Kxf6 39. Ke4 Rxb3 40. Kxd4 b4 41. Kc4 Rb1 42. Re2 h5 43. d4 Kf5 44. Re3 Rd1 45. d5 Rd2 46. f4 Kf6 47. Rb3 Rd1 48. Rxb4 Rc1+ 49. Kd4 Rd1+ 50. Kc5 Rd3 51. Rd4 Rc3+ 52. Kb4 1-0

Standings:
Cheparinov and Radjabov at +2
Gashimov, Wang, Kamsky, Aronian at +1
Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Jakovenko, Karjakin at 0

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Sochi Round 7

Karjakin-AlModiahki
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Na5 5. Nge2 Nxc4 6. dxc4 d6 7. O-O Be7 8. a4 O-O 9. a5 Be6 10. b3 c6 11. f4 exf4 12. Nxf4 Nd7 13. Bb2 Ne5 14. h3 g5 15. Nfe2 g4 16. hxg4 Bxg4 17. Qd4 f6 18. Ng3 Rf7 19. Nd1 Rg7 20. Ne3 Rg6 21. Nxg4 Rxg4 22. Nf5 Bf8 23. Qe3 Qe8 24. Rf4 Rxf4 25. Qxf4 Qh5 26. Rf1 Re8 27. Bd4 a6 28. Qg3+ Qg6 29. Qh3 Nf7 30. Rf4 Ng5 31. Qd3 Re6 32. Ng3 Bh6 33. Rg4 Bf8 34. Rh4 Be7 35. Bc3 Kf7 36. Kf2 Ke8 37. Kf1 Kd7 38. b4 Ke8 39. b5 Kf7 40. Kg1 Kg8 41. Kh2 Kf7 42. Bd2 Bf8 43. Bc1 Re8 44. Nf5 Kg8 45. bxc6 bxc6 46. c5 Nxe4 47. Rxe4 Qxf5 48. Rxe8 Qh5+ 49. Kg3 Qxe8 50. cxd6 Qe1+ 51. Kf3 Qxc1 52. d7 Be7 53. d8=Q+ Bxd8 54. Qxd8+ Kg7 55. Qd7+ Kg6 56. Qe8+ Kg7 57. Qd7+ Kg6 58. Qd3+ Kg5 59. Ke2 Qg1 60. Qg3+ Kh6 61. Qf4+ Kg6 62. Qe4+ Kg7 63. Qxc6 Qb1 64. Qd7+ Kg8 65. Qd3 Kg7 66. Qg3+ Kf8 67. Qd6+ Kg7 68. Kd2 Qb5 69. Qc7+ Kg6 70. g3 h5 71. c4 Qb3 72. c5 Qb2+ 73. Kd3 Qb1+ 74. Kd4 Qd1+ 75. Kc4 Qe2+ 76. Kd5 Qf3+ 77. Ke6 Qb3+ 78. Kd7 Qd5+ 79. Qd6 Qb7+ 80. Kd8 Qa8+ 81. Kc7 Qa7+ 82. Kc6 Kg5 83. Qc7 Qa8+ 84. Kb6 Kg4 85. c6 Qg8 86. Qb7 Kxg3 87. c7 Qe6+ 88. Ka7 Qe3+ 89. Ka8 1-0

Standings:
Cheparinov, Radjabov at +2
Gashimov, Aronian at +1
Seven players at 50%

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Sochi Round 6

Cheparinov (2687) - Grischuk (2728) [D12]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Bd2 Nbd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.0-0-0 a5 12.f3 a4 13.Qc2 a3 14.b3 Bb4 15.Kb1 Qb6 16.g4 0-0 17.h4 Rfe8 18.Rc1 Qa5 19.Bd3 Nf8 20.h5 g5 21.Bf5 Rad8 22.Qd3 b6 23.Rc2 c5 24.Rd1 Re7 25.Bc1 Rc7 26.Ne2 Re7 27.Ng1 Rde8 28.Nh3 cxd4 29.exd4 Re1 30.Nf2 N6h7 31.Rxe1 Bxe1 32.Re2 Rxe2 33.Qxe2 Bxf2 34.Qxf2 g6 35.hxg6 fxg6 36.Bd3 Ne6 37.Bxg6 Nhf8 38.Bf5 Qb4 39.Qe3 Kf7 40.Qe5 Qxd4 41.Qb8 Qd1 42.Qxb6 Nd4 43.Qc7+ Ke8 44.Qc3 Nxf5 45.gxf5 d4 46.Qc2 Qf1 47.Qe4+ Kf7 48.Kc2 Nh7 49.Qd5+ Kg7 50.Qd7+ Kg8 51.Qe6+ Kh8 52.Qe8+ Kg7 53.Qg6+ Kh8 54.f6 d3+ 55.Kb1 1-0

Gelfand (2720) - Radjabov (2744) [E97]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.f3 Kh8 13.Be3 Bh6 14.Nf7+ Rxf7 15.Bxh6 f4 16.Bg5 Neg8 17.g4 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Bf2 h5 20.h3 Rh7 21.c5 Ne7 22.Kg2 Ng6 23.Rh1 Bd7 24.b5 dxc5 25.Bxc5 Kg7 26.d6 hxg4 27.hxg4 Rxh1 28.Kxh1 Qh8+ 29.Kg2 Nh4+ 30.Kg1 c6 31.bxc6 bxc6 32.Kf2 Be6 33.Rb1 Kg6 34.Ke1 Rd8 35.Kd2 Rd7 36.Qa4 Qc8 37.Kc2 Ne8 38.Rd1 Ng2 39.Ba6 Qa8 40.Bc4 Ng7 41.Nd5 cxd5 42.exd5 Qe8 43.dxe6 Nxe6 44.Bxa7 Kf6 45.Bb5 Qc8+ 46.Kb2 Rb7 47.d7 Qc6 48.Ka1 Rxb5 49.Qa3 Rd5 0-1

AlModiahki (2556) - Aronian (2737) [C67]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nf5 8.c3 0-0 9.d4 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 g6 11.Nd2 d5 12.Nf3 c6 13.Re1 Bd6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bd2 Ng7 16.Bd3 Be6 17.Bh6 Qd7 18.Nh4 Rae8 19.Qc2 Bf7 20.g3 b6 21.a4 Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 c5 23.Qd1 Re8 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.Ng2 cxd4 26.cxd4 Ne6 27.Bb5 Qd8 28.Ne3 f5 29.Bc6 Qf6 30.Nxd5 Qxd4 31.Qxd4 Nxd4 32.Nf6+ Kh8 33.Bd5 Bxd5 34.Nxd5 Nb3 35.Nc3 Be5 36.Be3 Kg7 37.Kf1 Kf6 38.Ke2 g5 39.f3 f4 40.gxf4 gxf4 41.Bf2 Bd4 42.Nb5 Bxf2 43.Kxf2 a5 44.Nc7 Ke5 45.Na8 Nc5 46.Nxb6 Nd3+ 47.Ke2 Nxb2 48.h4 Kd6 49.h5 Kc6 50.Nc8 Nxa4 51.Ne7+ Kc5 52.Ng6 Nc3+ 53.Kd3 Nd5 54.Nf8 a4 55.Nxh7 a3 56.Kc2 Kc4 57.Ng5 Ne3+ 58.Kc1 Kb3 59.Ne4 a2 60.Nd2+ Ka3 61.Nb1+ Kb4 62.Kb2 axb1Q+ 63.Kxb1 Nf5 64.Kb2 Nh6 0-1

Gashimov (2717) - Navara (2646) [C99]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Rd8 14.d5 Bd7 15.Nf1 Rdc8 16.Ne3 Bd8 17.Nh2 Nc4 18.Bd3 Qa7 19.Neg4 Nxg4 20.hxg4 Bb6 21.Qe2 Bd4 22.Rb1 a5 23.b3 Nb6 24.Bd2 b4 25.Rf1 Rc7 26.Kh1 Nc8 27.g3 Bc3 28.f4 a4 29.Be3 Bd4 30.Bxd4 Qxd4 31.Nf3 Qb6 32.fxe5 Bxg4 33.exd6 Nxd6 34.e5 Nf5 35.Bxf5 Bxf5 36.Rbd1 axb3 37.axb3 Rc2 38.Rd2 Raa2 39.Rfd1 Rxd2 40.Rxd2 Ra1+ 41.Kg2 Qh6 42.e6 fxe6 43.dxe6 Bxe6 44.Rd8+ Kf7 45.Ne5+ Ke7 46.Nc6+ Kf7 47.Qf3+ Qf6 48.Qh5+ g6 49.Qxh7+ Qg7 50.Ne5+ Kf6 51.Qh4+ g5 52.Qd4 Bh3+ 53.Kf3 Rf1+ 54.Ke2 Qe7 55.Rf8+ Ke6 56.Rh8 Bg2 57.Qe3 Kf5 58.g4+ Kf6 59.Rf8+ Qxf8 60.Nd7+ Kg6 61.Nxf8+ Rxf8 62.Qe6+ Rf6 63.Qg8+ Kh6 64.Qh8+ Kg6 65.Qh5+ Kg7 66.Qxg5+ Kf7 67.Kd3 Rg6 68.Qf5+ Kg7 69.Qe5+ Kf7 70.Qf4+ 1-0

Standings

Radjabov, Cheparinov = +2

Gashimov, Aronian = +1

Six players even at 3/6

Monday, August 04, 2008

Sochi Round 5

Radjabov-Cheparinov
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Nxg4 Nbd7 12. Nxf6+ Qxf6 13. Be2 O-O-O 14. e5 Qf5 15. a4 b4 16. Bxc4 Nc5 17. Ne2 Rg8 18. O-O Be7 19. Qc1 Ne4 20. Ba6 Kb8 21. Bxb7 Kxb7 22. a5 Rc8 23. a6+ Kb8 24. Qxh6 Ng5 25. d5 Rg6 26. Qxg6 Qxg6 27. d6 Bd8 28. hxg5 Bb6 29. Rfd1 Qxg5 30. Rac1 Qg4 31. d7 Rd8 32. Kf1 Kc7 33. Rd6 Rxd7 34. Rcxc6+ Kd8 35. f3 Qh5 36. Rxb6 Qh1+ 37. Ng1 Rxd6 38. exd6 1-0

Standings:
Radjabov, Cheparinov, Grischuk in lead with 3/5
NINE players on their heels with 2.5/5

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Sochi Round 4

Svidler-Radjabov
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5 10. Qe1 e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Ne4 Qc7 15. Bc5 Rfd8 16. g4 Nf4 17. Qc3 Rd4 18. Bxd4 exd4 19. Qb4 d3 20. Bxe6 Ne2+ 21. Kb1 Rb8 22. Bxf7+ Kh8 23. Qxb8+ Qxb8 24. c3 Nxc3+ 25. Nxc3 Bxc3 26. Bb3 Bf6 27. Rxd3 Qe5 28. Rd2 Qe3 29. Rhd1 Qxf3 30. Rd7 Qe4+ 31. Bc2 Qb4 32. Bb3 Qe4+ 33. Ka1 Qg2 34. R1d2 Qxg4 35. a3 a5 36. Rb7 a4 37. Rdd7 Qg1+ 38. Bd1 Qxh2 39. Rdc7 Bd8 40. Rc8 Qd2 41. Bc2 1-0

AlModiahki-Navara
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Nc6 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. Nxd4 cxd4 6. Ne2 Nf6 7. d3 d5 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nxd4 Qb6 10. Nc2 dxe4 11. Be2 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. Na3 Be6 14. Nc4 Bxc4 15. dxc4 Bc5 16. Qc2 Rad8 17. a3 Bd4 18. Rb1 Rfe8 19. b4 e3 20. fxe3 Bxe3+ 21. Kh1 Ne4 22. Bxe3 Qxe3 23. Bf3 Rd2 24. Bxe4 Rxc2 25. Bxc2 Qxa3 26. c5 Re7 27. Bb3 Qxb4 28. Bd5 Qa5 29. Bxb7 g6 30. Rfc1 Re5 31. c6 Rc5 32. h3 Kf8 33. Ra1 Qb4 34. c7 Rxc7 35. Rxc7 a5 36. Bf3 Qb6 37. Rc8+ Kg7 38. Ra8 h5 39. R8xa5 Qd4 40. Rd1 Qe3 41. Ra4 Kh6 42. h4 Qe5 43. Re4 Qg3 44. Kg1 f5 45. Rc4 Kg7 46. Kf1 Kh6 47. Rdd4 Kg7 48. Rc6 1-0

Standings:
Cheparinov - 3/4
Grischuk - 2.5/4
Ten (!) players at 2/4

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Sochi Round 3

Cheparinov-Kamsky
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Qd2 e5 13. Bh6 cxd4 14. cxd4 exd4 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. f4 f6 17. Rac1 Bg4 18. Ng3 Bd7 19. h4 Rc8 20. Rxc8 Bxc8 21. h5 Qe7 22. Qe2 Bd7 23. Rc1 Rc8 24. Re1 Rc3 25. e5 f5 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Qd2 Nc4 28. Bxc4 Rxc4 29. Qd3 Qc5 30. e6 Bb5 31. Nh5+ Kh6 32. Qh3 d3+ 33. Kh2 gxh5 34. Qh4 Be8 35. Re5 Qf8 36. Qg5+ Kh7 37. Rxf5 Qg7 38. Qd8 Rc2 39. Rg5 Qc7 40. Qxd3+ Kh6 41. Qf5 1-0

Ivanchuk-Aronian
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 e6 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Bd6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bd2 Re8 11. Qd1 dxc4 12. Bxc4 a6 13. Qc2 c5 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Rfd1 Rc8 16. Be1 Qe7 17. Rac1 Rc7 18. Be2 Rec8 19. Qb1 h6 20. Bf3 g6 21. Ne2 Rb8 22. Nf4 Ncd7 23. Rxc7 Bxc7 24. Qc2 Ne5 25. Be2 Nc6 26. Bxa6 Bxf4 27. exf4 Nb4 28. Bxb4 Qxb4 29. a3 Qf8 30. Be2 Rc8 31. Qb3 Rc7 32. Bf3 Qc8 33. g3 Kg7 34. Qb4 h5 35. h4 Rc4 36. Qxb7 Qc5 37. b4 Qf5 38. Qe7 Ne4 39. Qa7 e5 40. Qa6 Rc3 41. Qe2 Nf6 42. fxe5 Rxf3 43. exf6+ Kh7 44. Qe7 1-0

Cheparinov in sole lead at 2.5/3

Friday, August 01, 2008

Sochi Round 2

Standings:
Kamsky, Cheparinov and Aronian join Radjabov and Grischuk in lead at 1½/2.

Games:

Svidler-Cheparinov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Ne7 10. h3 Ng6 11. Ne4 h6 12. Bd2 Bd7 13. Rad1 Kc8 14.
Rfe1 c5 15. Ng3 b6 16. Nh5 Kb7 17. Bc3 Be6 18. g4 Ne7 19. Nf4 g5 20. Nxe6 fxe6
21. Nd2 Rd8 22. Ne4 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Nd5 24. Bd2 Bg7 25. h4 gxh4 26. f4 Rf8 27.
Rf1 Nb4 28. Bxb4 cxb4 29. g5 hxg5 30. fxg5 Rxf1+ 31. Kxf1 Bxe5 32. b3 Kc6 33.
Kg2 Kd5 34. Nf2 Bd4 35. g6 Bg7 36. Nd3 Ke4 37. Nxb4 Kf5 38. Nc6 a5 39. Kh3 Bf6
0-1

Aronian-Navara
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 a6 6. b3 Bb4 7. Bd2 O-O 8. Bd3
Nbd7 9. O-O Qe7 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 Nd7 12. f4 f6 13. Qc2 h6 14. a3 Bc5 15.
b4 Ba7 16. exf6 Nxf6 17. c5 b6 18. cxb6 Bxb6 19. Na4 Ba7 20. Rae1 e5 21. fxe5
Qxe5 22. Nc5 Qe7 23. h3 Bxc5 24. Qxc5 Qxc5 25. bxc5 Be6 26. Bc3 Rab8 27. Rb1
Nd7 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 29. Bd4 Rb8 30. Rxb8+ Nxb8 31. Kf2 Kf7 32. Ke1 g6 33. Kd2
Bf5 34. Bf1 Ke6 35. Kc3 Bb1 36. Kb4 g5 37. g4 Ke7 38. Bg7 1-0

Kamsky-Ivanchuk
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 a5 13. Be2 O-O 14. O-O Bg5
15. Qd3 Rb8 16. Rad1 g6 17. b3 Be6 18. Bf3 Rb7 19. Qe2 Ne7 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21.
Rd3 h5 22. Rfd1 Rd8 23. Ne3 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Rdd7 25. Qh6 Qf8 26. Qxf8+ Kxf8 27.
Rxd6 Rbc7 28. h4 Ke7 29. Ra6 Rc5 30. Kf1 Rxd1+ 31. Bxd1 Kd7 32. Ra7+ Kc6 33.
Ke2 Kb6 34. Re7 Rc7 35. Rxc7 Kxc7 36. g3 Kd6 37. Ke3 f6 38. f4 Bf7 39. f5 g5
40. g4 hxg4 41. hxg5 fxg5 42. Bxg4 a4 43. f6 a3 44. Bf5 Kc5 45. Kf3 Bh5+ 46.
Kg3 Kd6 47. Bc8 1-0

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Grand Prix #2 Begins in Sochi, Russia

Players this time around:
01 Ivanchuk Vassily UKR 2781
02 Radjabov Teimour AZE 2744
03 Svidler Peter RUS 2738
04 Aronian
Levon
ARM
2737
05 Grischuk Alexander RUS 2728
06 Karjakin Sergey UKR 2727
07 Kamsky Gata USA 2723
08 Gelfand
Boris
ISR 2720
09 Gashimov Vugar AZE 2717
10 Jakovenko
Dmitry
RUS 2709
11 Wang Yue CHN 2704
12 Cheparinov Ivan BUL 2687
13 Navara David CZE
2646
14 Al Modiahki
Mohamad
QTR
2556

Round 1 Results

Grischuk (2728) - Karjakin (2727) [D43]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Ne5 h5 10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0-0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.b3 cxb3 16.axb3 0-0 17.Bg3 c5 18.e5 Nd5 19.Nxb5 cxd4 20.Nd6 Rb8 21.Qd2 Nc3 22.Bd3 a5 23.Ra3 Bd5 24.Bc2 Rb6 25.Re1 a4 26.Qd3 f5 27.exf6 Rxf6 28.Nc4 Bxc4 29.bxc4 Qe7 30.Qxd4 Qxa3 31.Qxb6 e5 32.Qd8+ Qf8 33.Qa5 e4 34.Bxe4 Nxe4 35.Rxe4 a3 36.Re3 Qf7 37.Qxa3 Qxc4 38.Qa5 Qf7 39.Re5 Rh6 40.Qd8+ Kh7 41.Re7 1-0

Radjabov (2744) - AlModiahki (2556) [A07]
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Bg4 4.c4 Bxf3 5.Bxf3 e6 6.Qc2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.d4 0-0 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.b3 Rc8 11.Nc3 c5 12.cxd5 cxd4 13.Rxd4 Bc5 14.Rh4 exd5 15.Bb2 Ne5 16.Qf5 Ng6 17.Ra4 d4 18.Nb5 a6 19.Rc4 Ne7 20.Qg5 h6 21.Qc1 d3 22.Bxf6 d2 23.Qc2 axb5 24.Rxc5 Rxc5 25.Qxc5 d1R+ 26.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 27.Kg2 gxf6 28.Qxe7 Kg7 29.Qxb7 Qd2 30.a3 Qb2 31.Qxb5 Qxa3 32.Qc4 Qd6 33.b4 Rb8 34.b5 Qe5 35.Bc6 Qe7 36.Qg4+ Kf8 37.Qf4 Qe5 38.Qxh6+ Ke7 39.h4 Qc7 40.Qd2 Qe5 41.Qd7+ Kf8 42.b6 Qe6 43.Qxe6 fxe6 44.b7 Ke7 45.g4 Kd6 46.Bf3 Kc7 47.Kg3 Rg8 48.Bg2 1-0

The other five games were drawn.

Tournament website: http://sochi2008.fide.com/