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/

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

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.

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

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

Ivanchuk wins Tal Memorial

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

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)

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

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

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!

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

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

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%

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

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

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

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

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

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/

Dortmund Round 7 (Final) - Leko wins it

Van Wely,L (2677) - Mamedyarov,S (2752) [D38]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 h6 8.Bh4 0-0 9.e3 c5 10.Bd3 c4 11.Bf5 Nb6 12.g4 g5 13.Bg3 Bxf5 14.gxf5 Ne4 15.Nd2 Qe7 16.Ke2 Nxd2 17.Kxd2 Qe4 18.h4 g4 19.Qxe4 dxe4 20.h5 Kh7 21.Rh4 Rg8 22.Rg1 Nd5 23.Be5 f6 24.Bh2 Rac8 25.Rhxg4 Rxg4 26.Rxg4 Rc6 27.Rxe4 Ra6 28.a3 Bxc3+ 29.bxc3 Rxa3 30.Re6 b5 31.e4 Ra2+ 32.Ke1 Nxc3 33.e5 Ra1+ 34.Kd2 Nd5 35.exf6 c3+ 36.Kd3? Rd1+ 37.Ke2?? 38.f7 Kg7 39.Rxh6 Kxf7 0-1
(Wow, this has not been Van Wely's tournament - underperforming by 300 points he ends in last place with the truly terrible score of +0 -5 =2, two full points behind the next competitor.)

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Kramnik,V (2788) [C42]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nxd4 12.Qd1 Ne6 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Nxd5 cxb5 16.Qh5 0-0 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qxb5 Rfd8 19.Be3 a6 20.Qb3 Rac8 21.h3 h6 22.Rad1 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 b5 24.Rd3 Rc6 25.Qd5 Qe8 26.Rd2 Qc8 27.b3 Rc3 28.h4 a5 29.Rd1 Rc2 30.Qxb5 Rxa2 31.h5 Nf8 32.Rd4 Qc7 33.Rd1 Rb2 34.Rc1 Qd7 35.Qb8 Rc2 36.Ra1 Qf5 37.Qd8 Qxh5 38.Rxa5 Qg4 39.Ra4 Qd7 40.Rd4 Qb7 41.b4 Rb2 42.Bd2 Rb1+ 43.Kh2 Qb5 44.Qd5 Qe2 45.Be3 Ng6 46.Qf5 Qf1 47.Kg3 Rb3 48.Re4 Nf8?? 49.Rf4! 1-0
(And with that defending champion and eight-time winner Kramnik finishes next-to-last with a -1 score.)

Nepomniachtchi,I (2634) - Gustafsson,J (2603) [C77]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 h6 9.c3 Be6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Be3 Bxb3 12.axb3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 0-0 14.0-0 Qe6 15.Nh4 Ne7 16.Nf5 Kh7 17.b4 Ng8 18.Qc2 g6 19.Ng3 c5 20.bxc5 dxc5 21.d4 c4 22.Rf3 ½-½
(Thanks for at least showing up.)

Leko,P (2741) - Naiditsch,A (2624) [C89]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Qxd5 Rad8 18.Qg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Bxd3 20.Be3 Be4+ 21.f3 Bc6 22.Nd2 Rfe8 23.Bd4 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 f6 25.Kf2 h5 26.Ne4 Bf8 27.Re2 Kf7 28.Nc5 Bxc5 29.Bxc5 Rd7 30.Bd4 a5 31.b3 ½-½
(Leko's +2 is enough to win it.)

Dortmund Round 6 - Leko takes lead from Gustafsson

Naiditsch,A (2624) - Van Wely,L (2677) [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Nc5 10.Qe2 Be7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.Bg3 Qc7 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxe5 Qa5 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.f4 b5 17.g4 b4 18.g5 bxc3? 19.gxf6 gxf6?? 20.Nf5 exf5 Qd8 22.Qh5 Kh7 23.Rhg1 Qe8 24.Rg3 Rg8 25.Bxf7 Rxg3 26.hxg3 1-0
(Bad tournament for Van Wely - two thumpings from lower rated players in consecutive rounds)

Gustafsson,J (2603) - Leko,P (2741) [E15]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qa4 Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.dxc5 bxc5 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Rd1 Qb6 11.Bf4 Rd8 12.Rd2 d6 13.Rad1 Ne8 14.e4 Bc6 15.Qc2 Qb7 16.Qb3 Qxb3 17.axb3 f6 18.Ne1 Nd7 19.Ra1 Rdb8 20.Ra3 Rb7 21.e5 Nxe5 22.Bxe5 Bxg2 23.Bxd6 Nxd6 24.Kxg2 Nf5 25.Ra6 Nd4 26.Nf3 Nxb3 27.Rd3 e5 28.Rd5 Rd8 29.Rxd8+ Bxd8 30.Rd6 Be7 31.Ra6 Nd4 32.Nxd4 cxd4 33.Nb5 d3 34.Kf1 Bc5 35.Rc6 d2 36.Ke2 Rd7 37.Nc3 Bd4 38.Kxd2 Bxf2+ 39.Nd5 a5 40.b3 Kf7 41.g4 Rb7 42.Ke2 Bd4 43.h4 e4 44.h5 Rxb3 45.Rc7+ Ke6 0-1

Dortmund Round 5 - Gustafsson in sole lead

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Naiditsch,A (2624) [D37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e3 a6 6.a4 c5 7.Bxc4 Nc6 8.0-0 Be7 9.dxc5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Bxc5 11.Bd2 b6 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.Ne4 Be7 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Rac1 0-0 16.Be4 Rfc8 17.b3 Na5 18.Bxb7 Nxb7 19.Bb4 Bb2 20.Rxc8+ Rxc8 21.Rd7 Na5 22.Bxa5 bxa5 23.g4 h6 24.Kg2 Bc3 25.g5 Rb8 26.Rd3 Rc8 27.h4 hxg5 28.hxg5 Kh7 29.Kg3 Kg6 30.Kf4 Rc6 31.e4 f6 32.Kg4 fxg5 33.Nxg5 e5 34.Nf3 Kf6 35.Kh5 Ke7 36.Nh4 Kf6 37.Rf3+ Ke6 38.Nf5 Kd7?! 39.Rd3+ Kc7 40.Nxg7 Be1 41.f3 Rc3 42.Ne6+ Kc6 43.Rxc3+ Bxc3 44.Kg6 Kd6 45.Kf5 Kc6 46.f4 exf4 47.Kxf4 Bf6 48.e5 Be7 49.Ke4 Bh4 50.Kd4 Bg3 51.Ng5 Bf4 52.Nf3 Bg3 53.Kc4 1-0

Van Wely,L (2677) - Gustafsson,J (2603) [D31]
1.c4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Ba5 b6 10.Qd6 Bd7 11.0-0-0 0-0-0 12.Bc3 f6 13.Bf3 (Van Wely - Shirov, Monte Carlo 2002, continued 13.b3) Qxc4 14.Be2? (Bick-Balazs, Budapest 2006, continued 14.Qa3) Qxa2 15.Nf3 Nc5 16.Ne5 Ne4! 17.Bc4 Qa1+ 18.Kc2 Qa4+ 0-1

Dortmund Round 4 - Leko, Gustafsson, Nepomniachtchi in Lead

Nepomniachtchi,I (2634) - Van Wely,L (2677) [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.f4 Ng4 11.g3 Nxe3 12.Qxe3 b5 13.Kb1 Qb6 14.Qe2 b4 15.Na4 Qc6 16.f5 Bxf5 17.exf5 Qxa4 18.Bg2 0-0 19.Bxa8 Rxa8 20.g4 Qc6 21.Na5 Qc7 22.Nc4 a5 23.Nxd6 Bxd6 24.Qd3 Nf6 25.Qxd6 Qxd6 26.Rxd6 Nxg4 27.Rg1 Nxh2 28.f6 g6 29.Rg2 Nf3 30.Re2 h5 31.Re3 e4 32.Rxe4 g5 33.Rd3 g4 34.Rd5 Ra6 35.Rf4 Re6 36.a4 Re1+ 37.Ka2 Rh1 38.Rxa5 Kh7 39.Rd5 Kg6 40.a5 Re1 41.a6 Re8 42.a7 Ra8 43.Ra5 Nh2 44.Rxb4 g3 45.Rb8 Rxa7 46.Rg8+ Kxf6 47.Rxa7 Ng4 48.Ra3 1-0

Dortmund Round 3 - Leko, Gustafsson in Lead

Naiditsch,A (2624) - Kramnik,V (2788) [C42]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nxd4 12.Qd1 Ne6 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Nxd5 cxb5 16.Bf4 Nxf4 17.Rxe7+ Kf8 18.Re5 Qd6 19.Qd2!N Ng6?! (19...Qxe5) 20.Ree1 f6 21.Rad1 Kf7 22.Qe3 Rhe8 23.Ne7 Qxe7 24.Qb3+ Kf8 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Qxb5 Rae8 27.g3 Ne5 28.Kg2 Nc6 29.b4 a6 30.Qb6 h6 31.a4 Ne5 32.Qc5 Kg8 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 Nf7 35.h4 Kh8 36.Rd2 Kg8 37.Kh3 Kh8 38.f4 Kg8 39.h5 Kh8 40.Qf5 Nd8 41.Rd7 Ne6 42.Qd5 1-0

FIDE Rating List

Given the massive rating inflation of recent years, I will no longer be posting all GMs over 2700 in my quarterly list. I will only be publishing those with ratings above the average of this group.

1	Anand, Viswanathan	g	IND	2798	2	1969
2	Morozevich, Alexander	g	RUS	2788	20	1977
3	Kramnik, Vladimir	g	RUS	2788	0	1975
4	Ivanchuk, Vassily	g	UKR	2781	25	1969
5	Topalov, Veselin	g	BUL	2777	10	1975
6	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2775	16	1990
7	Radjabov, Teimour	g	AZE	2744	31	1987
8	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	g	AZE	2742	23	1985
9	Shirov, Alexei	g	ESP	2741	11	1972
10	Leko, Peter	g	HUN	2741	0	1979
11	Svidler, Peter	g	RUS	2738	32	1976
12	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2737	11	1982
13	Adams, Michael	g	ENG	2735	20	1971

Dortmund Round 2 - Three Wins

Gustafsson,J (2603) - Naiditsch,A (2624) [D37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.0-0 a6 14.Rb1 Qc7 15.Qh5 Ke7 16.f4 Qxc3 17.Rfd1 Rab8 18.e5 Qe3+? 19.Kh1 Rhd8 20.exf6+ Ke8 21.Nxe6 Nxf6 22.Nc7+ Ke7 23.Qh4 1-0

Leko,P (2741) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [B46]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Qf3 Be7 10.Qg3 Nh5 11.Qf3 Nf6 12.e5 Nd7 13.Qg3 g6 14.Bh6 c5 15.Na4 c4 16.Be2 Bb7 17.b3 Bc6 18.Nb2 Rb8 19.Nd1 Nc5 20.Ne3 Ne4 21.Qh3 Ng5 22.Qg4 c3 23.a3 Bb5? 24.Bxb5+ axb5 25.f3 Qb6 26.Rae1 d4 27.Nd1 d3+ 28.Kh1 dxc2 29.Nf2 Bc5 30.Nd3 Be3 31.Bxg5 Bd2 32.Re2 0-0 33.Nc1 b4 34.Bxd2 cxd2 35.Rxd2 bxa3 36.Rxc2 Rfc8 37.Qe4 Rxc2 38.Qxc2 Qd4 39.Na2 Qxe5 40.b4 Rd8 41.h3 h5 42.Rb1 Qe3 43.Rd1 Rd5 44.Qb1 Qe2 45.Re1 Qd2 46.Rc1 Rd8 47.b5 Rb8 48.Rc3 h4 49.b6 Qd6 50.Rb3 Rb7 51.Nc3 Qc6 52.Rxa3 Qxb6 53.Qxb6 Rxb6 54.Ra4 g5 55.f4 Rb3 56.Ne2 Re3 57.Ng1 1-0

Kramnik,V (2788) - Van Wely,L (2677) [D11]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.Ne5 Qe7 11.Qf3 Rfd8 12.Qh3 h6 13.f4 Bb4 14.Ndf3 Ne4 15.Nxd7 Rxd7 16.Ne5 Rc7 17.Bxe4 dxe4 18.c5 bxc5 19.a3 Ba5 20.dxc5 Qxc5 21.b4 Qb5 22.Qg3 Bb6? [22...f5] 23.Nd7 g6 24.Nf6+ Kf8 25.Be5 Rcc8 26.Qh4 h5 27.Nh7+ Ke8 28.Bd6 Rc7 29.Rfd1 1-0

Nepomniachtchi-Mamedyarov was a draw

Dortmund Round 1 - Four Draws

Jan Gustafsson	½-½	Vladimir Kramnik
Arkadij Naiditsch	½-½	Ian Nepomniachtchi
Shak. Mamedyarov	½-½	Peter Leko
Vassily Ivanchuk	½-½	Loek van Wely

MGP3 - Petrosian

So, I read My Great Predecessors 1 and 2, and they have all these great games where you see the world champions whoop butt on their opponents. Now I'm reading the first chapter in volume 3 on Petrosian, and ...

• Game 2 (Zurich CT 1953) - Reshevsky has strong pressure all game but Petrosian defends well and gets the draw (by the way, in this same line at Zurich, Taimanov soundly thumped Petrosian and Smyslov had a won position although that game was drawn)
• Game 3 (USSR Ch 1958) - Tal has strong pressure all game but Petrosian defends well and gets the draw
• Game 4 (Varna Ol 1962) - Gligoric has strong pressure all game but Petrosian defends well and gets the draw
• Game 5 (San Antonio 1972) - Portisch has strong pressure all game but Petrosian defends well and gets the draw
• Game 8 (Amsterdam CT 1956) - Colorless draw with Bronstein

Given that only 22 games (excluding the losses to other players featured in the book and the two wins against Kasparov) were needed, surely Kasparov could have found sufficient GOOD games by Petrosian to fill up the required number of slots rather than giving us this slop.

US Championship Winners

1. Shulman, Yuri GM 2606 - 7 - New US Champion
2. Onischuk, Alexander GM 2664 - 6½
3. Kudrin, Sergey GM 2549 - 6

Women's Tournament: Zatonskih, Anna IM over Krush, Irina IM on tiebreaks.
After two Game/15 games and two Game/5 games were split, a remarkable Armageddon game determined the result of this grueling finale. The rules called for one player to name the times (with black having draw odds) and the other to chose which color she wanted. Krush had white with 6 minutes, while Zatonskih had 4½ minutes and the draw odds. A tense game ensued and both players entered severe time trouble. But Anna’s draw odds were a big advantage here – she could blitz out moves hardly thinking (just moving the piece nearest to the clock), while Irina actually had to do something with her moves since she had to win. Krush lost on time with 0:01 left on Anna’s clock! It doesn’t get any closer than that.

ETA (6/1/08): Whining by Irina Krush at http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8475/456/. She claims that Anna Zatonskih cheated.

My opponent, seeing herself on the verge of losing on time, began playing moves before I had completed mine. She made her moves before I hit my clock, and as soon as I pressed the clock, it was punched back at me. [...] People have pointed out that I should have registered my protest during the game, or immediately after. Unfortunately, while I was certainly in disbelief as I watched my opponent complete 3 moves with her last remaining second and saw myself lose on time despite starting out with a large time lead, during the game and immediately after, I had no clear grasp of how she had accomplished this. [...] I’d also like to address my reaction at the end of this game, when I knocked a piece off to the side of the board before walking out of the room. This may seem like poor behavior to some, but I believe that my reaction was nothing compared to the aggression leveled at me by my opponent during the end of this game. Knocking off a piece and storming away had no power or intention to take away anything my opponent had been working for during this tournament. When my opponent moved on my time, however innocuous that may appear to be, I believe that she was committing one of the worst transgressions possible: depriving me, through unfair means, of the just rewards of my labor.

This last paragraph is idiotic nonsense. If she didn't think that her opponent was cheating until well after the game ended, why did she throw a piece then? And even if you are going to file a protest, there is still no need for a professional to throw a piece anyway. Leave that sort of behavior to the amateurs.

An amazing website

http://www.worldchesslinks.net/

Too much information even to scratch the surface here, but I've poked around the site a little bit and aside from the amazingly huge number of links

• Opening Theory, with links to content broken up by ECO code
• Grandmaster websites

There's also a great deal of original content:

• Historic Tournaments, including cross-tables and games
• World Chess Championship, including all games back to 1834

Remaining Major Events in 2008

Mexico City (June 21 – July 6) - A new event that will be part of the Grand Slam series; format and participants not announced yet as far as I know.
ETA (6/21): Apparently this tournament is not happening after all. Chess version of vaporware, I guess.

Dortmund 2008 (June 28 - July 6)
1. Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2788)
2. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE 2752)
3. Peter Leko (HUN 2741)
4. Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR 2740)
5. Loek Van Wely (NED 2676)
6. Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS 2634)
7. Arkadij Naiditsch (GER 2623)
8. Jan Gustafsson (GER 2603)

Grand Prix Tournament in Sochi (July 30 – August 15)

Bilbao (September 2-13) - which will feature the winners of Corus (Aronian, Carlsen), Linares (Anand) and Sofia (Ivanchuk). ETA (8/17): Additional participants are Topalov and Radjabov. Format is a double round robin.

Most important of all is the Anand-Kramnik world championship match (October 14 - November 2)

And of course there's the Olympiad (November 12-25).

And finally the Grand Prix tournament in Qatar (December 13-29)
ETA (11/24): Qatar dropped out; this event will be held in Elista; ChessBase reports that some of the players may drop out. As usual, FIDE has fubared the whole thing.

Sofia Round 10

Ivanchuk wins M-Tel with +6=4 score, 1.5 points ahead of Topalov!

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [B48]1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0-0-0 Bb4 9.f3 Ne5 10.Nb3 b5 11.Bd4 Be7 12.Qf2 d6 13.g4 0-0 14.g5 Nfd7 15.Rg1 Bb7 16.Kb1 Rfc8 17.Rg3 b4 18.Na4 Bd8 19.Nc1 Bc6 20.b3 Bxa4 21.bxa4 Nc6 22.Be3 Qb8 23.Rh3 Nb6 24.Qh4 h6 25.Qg3 Nxa4 26.Rxd6 hxg5 27.Bd3 Bf6 28.e5 Bxe5 29.Rh8+ Kxh8 30.Qh3+ Kg8 31.Qh7+ Kf8 32.Rd7 Nc3+ 33.Ka1 Nb5+ 0-1

The other two games are in progress.

I'm no grandmaster but Aronian-Bu has simplified to a R+N vs R+B ending which is probably drawn.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.h3 0-0 7.Bd3 c5 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Re1 Nb4 10.dxc5 Nxd3 11.Qxd3 Bf5 12.Qe2 dxc4 13.e4 Be6 14.Ng5 Qd3 15.Qxd3 cxd3 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Be3 Nd7 18.Rad1 Rfc8 19.Na4 b5 20.cxb6 axb6 21.Rxd3 Ne5 22.Ra3 b5 23.Nc5 Nc4 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.Nxe6 Bxb2 26.Nc7 Rxa2 27.Nxb5 Ra5 28.Nc7 Nxe3 29.fxe3 Ra4 30.Rb1 Bf6 31.Kf2 Rxe4 32.Kf3 Ra4 33.Nd5 Kf7 34.g4 Be5 35.Rb7 Bd6 36.Nc3 Ra5 37.Ne4 Ke6 38.h4 h5 39.g5 Be5 40.Rb6+ Kf7 41.Rb1 Ra3 42.Rd1 Bc7 43.Rb1 Be5 44.Rd1 Bc7 45.Rb1 1/2-1/2

Topalov-Radjabov appears to have some life still left in it.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nf6 9.c4 b4 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Nc2 Qg6 12.Ne3 Be7 13.g3 Nd4 14.Bg2 Bb7 15.Nf5 Qxf5 16.exf5 Bxg2 17.Rg1 Bf3 18.Qd3 d5 19.cxd5 Rc8 20.Be3 Nc2+ 21.Kf1 e4 22.Qxa6 0-0 23.Rb1 Nxe3+ 24.fxe3 Rc2 25.h4 Rd8 26.Qb7 Kf8 27.a4 Rd2 28.Rc1 R2xd5 29.Rc8 Rd1+ 30.Kf2 R1d2+ 31.Ke1 Rd1+ 32.Kf2 R1d2+ 33.Ke1 Rd1+ 34.Kf2 R1d2+ 1/2-1/2

ETA - remaining moves

Sofia Round 9

Bu Xiangzhi (2708) - Topalov,V (2767) [D23]
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 Nbd7 7.Bg2 e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nc3 0-0 10.Re1 h6 11.e4 Bh7 12.Bf4 Rc8 13.Qe2 Re8 14.Rad1 b5 15.a3 a5 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Qb6 18.a4 Nd7 19.Bf4 b4 20.Nb1 Nf6 21.Be5 c5 22.Nd2 cxd4 23.Nb3 Qc6 24.Qb5 Qxb5 25.axb5 a4 26.Nxd4 Ng4 27.Bf4 g5 28.Bf3 Nxf2 29.Kxf2 gxf4 30.Nc6 fxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Bf8 32.Rd7 Bg6 33.e5 Bc5 34.Rc1 Be3 35.Rc4 a3 36.bxa3 bxa3 37.Ra4 Bc5 38.Ra6 a2 39.Rxa2 Kg7 40.Ra6 Rb8 41.Nxb8 Rxb8 42.Bc6 h5 43.Ra8 Rb6 44.Rdd8 h4+ 45.Kf4 Bh7 46.Be4 Be7 47.Rdb8 1-0

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 7
Topalov - 6
Radjabov - 5

Dominguez (no relation) wins Capablanca Memorial

Lenier Dominguez Perez, Cuba's highest rated GM at 2695, won with an undefeated 6/9, a half point ahead of Amonatov and Khenkin, both also undefeated at 5.5/9. (Of course, Ivanchuk, the winner of the last three events was not there this year.)

Complete History of the Capablanca Memorial Tournament

1962 Miguel Najdorf (Argentina)
1963 Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
1964 Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union), Wolfgang Uhlmann (East Germany)
1965 Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union)
1967 Bent Larsen (Denmark)
1968 Ratmir Kholmov (Soviet Union)
1969 Alexey Suetin (Soviet Union), Viktor Korchnoi (Soviet Union)
1971 Vlastimil Hort (Czechoslovakia)
1972 Anatoly Lein (Soviet Union)
1973 Vasily Smyslov (Soviet Union)
1974 Ulf Andersson (Sweden)
1975 Ulf Andersson (Sweden)
1976 Boris Gulko (Soviet Union)
1977 Oleg Romanishin (Soviet Union), Guillermo García González (Cuba)
1979 Evgeny Sveshnikov (Soviet Union)
1980 Alonso Zapata (Colombia), Lubomir Ftacnik (Czechoslovakia)
1981 Vitaly Tseshkovsky (Soviet Union)
1983 Lev Psakhis (Soviet Union)
1984 Jesus Nogueiras (Cuba)
1985 Borislav Ivkov (Yugoslavia)
1986 Carlos García Palermo (Argentina), Julio Granda Zúñiga (Peru)
1987 Carlos García Palermo (Argentina), Denis Verduga (Mexico)
1988 Zurab Azmaiparashvili (Soviet Union)
1989 Amador Rodriguez (Cuba)
1990 Adelkis Remón (Cuba)
1991 Valeriy Neverov (Soviet Union)
1992 Henry Urday Cáceres (Peru)
1993 Mark Hebden (England)
1994 Loek van Wely (Netherlands), Tony Miles (England), Alonso Zapata (Colombia)
1995 Tony Miles (England)
1996 Tony Miles (England)
1997 Peter Leko (Hungary)
1998 Robert Hübner (Germany), Ivan Morovic (Chile), Yaacov Zilberman (Israel)
1999 Tony Miles (England)
2000 Alexander Volzhin (Russia)
2001 Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain)
2002 Lázaro Bruzón (Cuba)
2003 Julio Granda Zúñiga (Peru)
2004 Lenier Domínguez (Cuba)
2005 Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
2006 Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)
2007 Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)

Sofia Round 8

Aronian,L (2763) - Radjabov,T (2751) [E97]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 a5 11.bxa5 Rxa5 12.Nd2 Nf4 13.Bf1 c5 14.a4 Ra6 15.Ra3 Nh5 16.Nb5 Nf6 17.Bb2 Ne8 18.Nf3 h6 19.g3 f5 20.exf5 Nxf5 21.Nd2 Nf6 22.Bd3 Rf7 23.Bc2 Bd7 24.Qb1 Rf8 25.Rf3 h5 26.Ne4 Nxe4 27.Rxe4 Ra8 28.Re1 Rc8 29.Bc1 Ra8 30.Bd2 b6 31.Be3 e4 32.Rf4 Nxe3 33.fxe3 Bh6 34.Nxd6 Bxf4 35.gxf4 Qh4 36.Re2 Bg4 37.Rg2 g5 38.f5 Bxf5 39.Rg3 Bh3 40.Bxe4 Rf1+ 41.Qxf1 Bxf1 42.Bf5 g4 43.Be6+ Kh7 44.Bf5+ Kh8 0-1

Topalov,V (2767) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [D90]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 N8d7 9.a4 a5 10.e4 e5 11.d5 c6 12.Bg5 Bf6 13.Be3 Qe7 14.d6 Qe6 15.b3 Bg7 16.h4 f5 17.Ng5 Qf6 18.b4 f4 19.Bxb6 Nxb6 20.bxa5 Nd7 21.a6 Kh8 22.Nb1 Bh6 23.Nf3 bxa6 24.Rxc6 Bb7 25.Rc7 Bxe4 26.Rxd7 Qf5 27.Rc7 Bxb1 28.Ng5 Bg7 29.Bc4 Bc2 30.Qd5 h6 31.Rf7 Qc8 32.Rxg7 1-0

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 6.5
Topalov - 6
Radjabov - 4.5

Sofia Round 7

Radjabov-Bu
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 a6 5. Nf3 b5 6. c5 g6 7. Ne5 Bg7 8. Be2 O-O9. O-O Nfd7 10. f4 a5 11. a3 f6 12. Nf3 f5 13. Bd2 Nf6 14. Be1 Kh8 15. Bh4 Be616. Ne5 Qc7 17. Qe1 Nbd7 18. Bg5 Nxe5 19. fxe5 Ne4 20. Nxe4 fxe4 21. Qh4 Rxf1+22. Rxf1 Re8 23. Bg4 Qd7 24. Rf7 Bxg4 25. Bf6 exf6 26. Rxd7 Bxd7 27. exf6 a428. fxg7+ Kxg7 29. Kf2 h6 30. Ke1 Re6 31. Qg3 Be8 32. Kd2 g5 33. Kc3 Kf8 34.Kb4 Bf7 35. Ka5 Kg7 36. Kb6 Kf8 37. Kc7 Kg7 38. Kd7 Kf8 39. Qf2 Rg6 40. Qf5 h541. g3 1-0

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 6
Topalov - 5
Radjabov, Cheparinov - 3.5

Sofia Round 6 - Ivanchuk human after all, draws

Bu Xiangzhi (2708) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [D45]
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 Ne4 9.Nd2 f5 10.0-0 Qh4 11.f4 Nxd2 12.Qxd2 Nf6 13.a4 Rf7 14.a5 g5 15.g3 Qh3 16.Bf3 gxf4 17.exf4 Bd7 18.Na4 Ne4 19.Bxe4 fxe4 20.Nc5 Be8 21.Ba3 Qf5 22.a6 b6 23.Nb7 Bxa3 24.Rxa3 Rg7 25.Nd6 Qf6 26.f5 Bh5 27.fxe6 Bf3 28.cxd5 cxd5 29.Nf7 h5 30.Ne5 h4 31.Nxf3 hxg3 32.b4 Rf8 33.h3 g2 34.Re1 exf3 35.Qf2 Qf5 36.Kh2 Qf4+ 37.Kg1 Qf5 38.Kh2 Qf4+ 39.Kg1 Rg3 40.e7 Rxh3 41.exf8Q+ Kxf8 42.Rxf3 Rxf3 43.Re2 Kf7 44.b5 Kf6 0-1

Topalov,V (2767) - Aronian,L (2763) [D47]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.0-0 0-0 10.a3 Bb7 11.h3 e5 12.Qc2 Re8 13.Bd2 Qe7 14.Ng5 h6 15.Nge4 Bc7 16.Rfe1 Bb6 17.Ng3 Rad8 18.Rad1 Qf8 19.Nce2 a6 20.b4 h5 21.Bc3 h4 22.Ne4 Nd5 23.Nc5 Nxc5 24.dxc5 Bc7 25.Bb2 Bc8 26.Bh7+ Kh8 27.Bf5 Bxf5 28.Qxf5 Qe7 29.Nc3 Nxc3 30.Bxc3 Kg8 31.Qe4 Qe6 32.Qxh4 Qb3 33.Rc1 Qxa3 34.Qe4 a5 35.Qxc6 axb4 36.Bxb4 Qxb4 37.Qxc7 Rc8 38.Qa7 Re6 39.Red1 Qe4 40.Qd7 Rec6 41.Qb7 b4 42.Rd7 Qf5 43.Rd5 Rg6 44.Kf1 b3 45.Qxb3 Qg5 46.g3 Qf5 47.Kg2 Rf6 48.Rd2 Qf3+ 49.Kh2 Rd6 50.Qa2 Rxd2 51.Qxd2 Rc6 52.Kg1 Rh6 53.Qd1 Qc6 54.h4 Rf6 55.Qg4 g6 56.h5 Kg7 57.e4 Kh6 58.hxg6 fxg6 59.Kg2 Kg7 60.Qe2 Rf7 61.Rc4 g5 62.Qh5 Qf6 63.Rc2 Qd8 64.c6 Qd3 65.Qxg5+ Kf8 66.Qh6+ Kg8 67.Rd2 Qxe4+ 68.Kh2 Rf8 69.c7 Qf5 70.f3 1-0

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Radjabov,T (2751) [B33]
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.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.c3 f5 14.Nc2 0-0 15.0-0 Rb8 16.exf5 e4 17.Be2 Bxf5 18.Nb4 Qg5 19.f4 exf3 20.Bxf3 Rbe8 21.Nc6 Be5 22.Nxe5 dxe5 23.Qc1 Qxc1 24.Raxc1 Be6 25.Rfe1 f6 26.Rcd1 Rd8 27.Bb7 a5 28.Bc6 b4 29.cxb4 axb4 30.a4 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Rc8 32.Be4 f5 33.Bd5 Bxd5 34.Rxd5 Rc2 35.b3 Rc3 36.Rxe5 Rxb3 37.Rxf5 Ra3 38.a5 b3 39.Rb5 Kg7 40.h3 b2 41.Rxb2 Rxa5 1/2-1/2

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 5.5
Topalov - 4.5
Cheparinov - 3 (amazing that +0 is good enough for third place)

US Championship Begins Today

How sad what has happened to US professional chess?

First Prize: $8,000 + a Caribbean Gambit Chess Cruise

$8K? Are they kidding? No wonder so many top players have refused to participate!

Sofia Round 5

Ivanchuk goes 5/5 in exhibition (3540 performance rating!); Topalov leading actual tournament players at 3.5/5

Topalov,V (2767) - Bu Xiangzhi (2708) [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 0-0 9.Qe2 Ne4 10.Ne5 Nd7 11.Nxd7 Qxd7 12.Na2 Be7 13.f3 Nf6 14.e4 Bg6 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Nc1 a5 17.Nd3 Nd7 18.Rac1 Rfe8 19.g3 Bd6 20.Nf4 e5 21.Nxg6 hxg6 22.f4 exd4 23.Bxd4 b6 24.f5 g5 25.Qh5 Nf6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Qg6+ Kf8 28.Qxf6 Be5 29.Qxg5 Qe7 30.f6 Bd4+ 31.Rf2 1-0

Aronian,L (2763) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [D12]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.a3 Nbd7 9.g3 Be7 10.b3 e5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qa5+ 13.Nc3 Qxc3+ 14.Bd2 Qb2 15.d5 cxd5 16.Bb5 a6 17.Bxd7+ Kxd7 18.0-0 e4 19.Bc3 Qxc3 20.Qxd5+ Ke8 21.Rac1 Qd3 22.Qxb7 Rd8 23.Rfd1 Qxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25.Kg2 a5 26.g4 Kf8 27.Qxe4 g5 28.Qf5 Bd8 29.Qc5+ Kg8 30.Qe5 g6 31.b4 axb4 32.axb4 Kh7 33.b5 Rf8 34.Qc5 Kg8 35.b6 Rb1 36.f4 Rb2+ 37.Kg3 gxf4+ 38.exf4 Bxb6 39.Qc3 Rb1 40.f5 Rg1+ 41.Kh3 Re8 42.Qf6 Bf2 43.Qg7+ Kxg7 44.f6+ Kf8 0-1

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 5
Topalov - 3.5
Radjabov, Cheparinov - 2

Sofia Round 4 - Ivanchuk Four for Four!

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [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.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.c5 g5 14.Rc1 Ng6 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Nb5 Rf7 17.Qc2 Ne8 18.Nf2 h5 19.a4 Bf8 20.h3 Rg7 21.Qb3 Nh4 22.Rc2 g4 23.fxg4 Nf6 24.Be1 hxg4 25.hxg4 Nh5 26.Nh1 f3 27.Bxf3 Nf4 28.Ng3 Bxg4 29.Bxg4 Rxg4 30.Nc7 Rc8 31.Ne6 Rxc2 32.Qxc2 Qb6+ 33.Kh1 Nhxg2 34.Nf5 Qa6 35.Rg1 Qd3 36.Qxd3 Nxd3 37.Bh4 Rxe4 38.Rxg2+ Kf7 39.Nxd6+ Bxd6 40.Ng5+ 1-0

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 4
Topalov - 2.5
Radjabov, Aronian, Cheparinov - 1.5
Bu - 1

Sofia Round 3 - Third Victory for Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Bu Xiangzhi (2708) [A11]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.b3 Bg4 7.Ne5 Bh5 8.cxb5 cxb5 9.Bxb5+ axb5 10.Nxb5 e6 11.Nc7+ Ke7 12.Nxa8 Nfd7 13.Ba3+ Kf6 14.Bb2 Nxe5 15.f4 Nbd7 16.Nc7 Bg6 17.Bxe5+ Nxe5 18.fxe5+ Kxe5 19.Qc3+ Kf5 20.0-0+ Kg5 21.a4 Kh6 22.Rf3 Bf5 23.Raf1 Bd6 24.Nb5 Bb8 25.Nd4 Be4 26.Rh3+ Kg6 27.d3 Bf5 28.Rhf3 Be5 29.Qe1 Bxd4 30.Rg3+ Kh6 31.exd4 g6 32.Rgf3 1-0

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Topalov,V (2767) [C11]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 Be7 9.c3 0-0 10.g3 cxd4 11.Nexd4 Nc5 12.Bg2 Bd7 13.0-0 Rc8 14.Kh1 Ne4 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.c4 a5 17.Qc2 g6 18.Rad1 Nc5 19.Nd4 Qc7 20.g4 Rfd8 21.Qf2 Be8 22.f5 Qxe5 23.fxe6 Nxe6 24.Nxe6 Qxe6 25.Rde1 Qxg4 26.Bd4 Qh4 27.Rxe7 Qxe7 28.Re1 Qg5 29.Re5 Qc1+ 30.Re1 Qg5 31.Re5 f5 32.h4 Qg4 33.Kh2 dxc4 34.Bh3 Qd1 35.Re1 Rxd4 36.Rxd1 Rxd1 37.Bf1 Bf7 38.Be2 0-1

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 3
Topalov - 2
Cheparinov - 1.5

Sofia Round 2

Topalov,V (2767) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [C11]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.a3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Be2 0-0 11.Qd2 Qc7 12.Bf3 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Nb6 14.Ne2 Bxd4 15.Qxd4 Bd7 16.b3 Bb5 17.Nc3 Rfc8 18.Nxb5 axb5 19.Be2 Nd7 20.Ra2 Nb8 21.0-0 Nc6 22.Qd2 Qb6+ 23.Kh1 Qa5 24.Qxa5 Rxa5 25.Raa1 Rca8 26.Rad1 Rxa3 27.Bxb5 Nb4 28.c4 R8a5 29.f5 exf5 30.g4 Rxb3 31.gxf5 Re3 32.Rb1 Nd3 {Things are looking better for White, who might be slightly better. Unfortunately his super-aggressive continuation does not really work.} 33.e6? d4 34.Be8 Nc5? {Better is 34...Kf8 – both players are in time trouble.} 35.Bxf7+ Kf8 36.f6 gxf6 37.Rxf6 Ke7 38.Rh6 d3 39.Rxh7 d2 {Black is now clearly better, but White can still fight and hope to hold the draw. Unfortunately on the last move before the time control Topalov falters.} 40.Rg1? {This allows a forced win.} 41...Re1 41.Bh5+ Kxe6 42.Rhg7 Ne4 43.R7g6+ Ke5 0-1

Standings:
Ivanchuk - 2
Cheparinov - 1.5
Topalov - 1

Sofia Round 1 - Three Decisive Games

Radjabov,T (2751) - Ivanchuk,V (2740) [E15]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qc2 d6 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.Rfe1 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Be4 13.Qb2 Re8 14.Bh3 Bb7 15.Nd2 e5 16.Rad1 h6 17.f3 exd4 18.Bxd4 Ne5 19.Nf1 Nh5 20.Bxe5 Rxe5 21.e4 Qf6 22.Ne3 Qxf3 23.Bg2 Qf6 24.Ng4 Qe7 25.Nxe5 dxe5 26.Qf2 Bc6 27.a4 Qc5 28.Qxc5 bxc5 29.Re3 Kf8 30.Red3 Ke7 31.Rd5 Bxd5 32.Rxd5 Nf6 33.Rxc5 Kd6 34.Rb5 Ra7 35.h4 Nd7 36.Rd5+ Ke7 37.Bh3 c6 38.Rxd7+ Rxd7 39.Bxd7 Kxd7 40.c5 h5 41.Kf2 g6 42.Ke2 f5 43.exf5 gxf5 44.Kd3 Ke6 45.Kc4 f4 46.gxf4 exf4 47.Kd4 Kf5 48.Kd3 f3 0-1

Aronian,L (2763) - Topalov,V (2767) [E00]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.Bc3 0-0 9.0-0 d5 10.Nd2 Bd7 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 exd5 13.Qb3 Bf6 14.N2f3 Bg4 15.Rfd1 Rb8 16.Qa4 Bxf3 17.exf3 Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Qd7 19.b4 b6 20.Rac1 Rbc8 21.Bb2 Rfd8 22.Rc2 Ne7 23.Rxc8 Nxc8 24.b5 Ne7 25.Qb3 Nf5 26.a4 h5 27.h3 Qe6 28.Kg2 Qe2 29.g4 Nh4+ 30.Kg3 Ng6 31.gxh5 Ne7 32.Kg2 Nf5 33.Bd4 Qe7 34.Qd3 Qg5+ 35.Kh2 Re8 36.Bb2 Re3 37.fxe3 Qg3+ 38.Kh1 Qxf3+ 39.Kg1 Nxe3 40.Rd2 Qg3+ 41.Kh1 Qxh3+ 42.Kg1 Qg3+ 43.Kh1 Qe1+ 44.Kh2 Qxd2+ 45.Qxd2 Nf1+ 46.Kg2 Nxd2 47.Be5 Ne4 48.Kf3 Nc5 49.Ke3 Nxa4 50.Kd4 Nc5 51.Kxd5 a6 52.bxa6 Nxa6 53.Kc6 Nc5 54.Bc7 Kh7 55.Bxb6 Ne4 56.Be3 Nf6 57.Kd6 Nxh5 58.Ke5 Kg6 59.Bd2 f5 60.Be1 Kg5 0-1

Cheparinov,I (2696) - Bu Xiangzhi (2708) [B90]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a5 11.Qe1 Qc7 12.Bb5 Nbd7 13.Qf2 Rfc8 14.Kb1 Bc4 15.g4 Bxb5 16.Nxb5 Qc6 17.a4 Ne8 18.Rd3 Qc4 19.Nc3 Nc7 20.Bb6 Nxb6 21.Qxb6 Qb4 22.Qxb4 axb4 23.Nd5 Nxd5 24.Rxd5 Rxa4 25.Rb5 Ra7 26.Rxb4 g6 27.Rd1 f5 28.gxf5 gxf5 29.Rd5 fxe4 30.fxe4 Kf7 31.c3 h5 32.Na5 Rc7 33.Nc4 Ke6 34.Ne3 Bd8 35.Nf5 Rd7 36.c4 b6 37.Rb3 Ra4 38.Rbd3 Be7 39.b3 Ra8 40.Rg3 Bf8 41.Kb2 h4 42.Rg6+ Kf7 43.Rg4 Rda7 44.Rxh4 Ra1 45.Rh7+ Ke6 46.Rh8 Re1 47.Ng3 Kf7 48.Rh7+ Ke6 49.Rb7 Rea1 50.Nf5 R8a2+ 51.Kc3 Rc1+ 52.Kb4 Rb2 53.Rb8 Rcb1 54.Rd3 Kf7 55.Rf3 1-0

2007 Chess Oscar

World Champion Anand was selected by 130 experts. In second place was Vladimir Kramnik, and third was Gata Kamsky. This is Anand's fifth Chess Oscar – more than any other non-Russian player.

Baku Round 13 (Final) - Gashimov, Wang, Carlsen Win at +3

Bacrot,E (2705) - Carlsen,M (2765) [E21]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg5 Bb7 6.Nd2 h6 7.Bh4 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qe7 10.e3 g5 11.Bg3 d6 12.h4 0-0-0 13.Be2 Nd7 14.Nb3 f5 15.Qc2 Rhf8 16.f3 e5 17.hxg5 hxg5 18.0-0-0 Rde8 19.Bd3 Qf7 20.Rh6 Ba6 21.Nd2 exd4 22.exd4 Na5 23.Rdh1 Re7 24.Qa4 Re3 25.Rh7 Qe8 26.Qc2 Nf6 27.R7h6 Kb7 28.Bf2 Rxd3 29.Qxd3 Nd5 30.Re1 Qa4 31.Qc2 Qxa3+ 32.Qb2 Qxb2+ 33.Kxb2 Nxc4+ 34.Nxc4 Bxc4 35.Be3 g4 36.fxg4 fxg4 37.Rg6 a5 38.Rxg4 a4 39.Rg3 a3+ 40.Kxa3 Ra8+ 41.Kb2 Ra2+ 42.Kc1 Nxc3 43.Bd2 Ne2+ 44.Rxe2 Bxe2 45.Rg7 Ra4 46.Bc3 b5 47.g4 Bf3 48.g5 b4 49.Bb2 Ra5 50.Kc2 Bd5 51.Re7 Bc4 52.Bc1 Rf5 53.Bd2 Rf2 54.g6 Rg2 55.g7 Kc6 56.Re8 Bf7 57.Rb8 b3+ 58.Kc3 Rxg7 59.Kb2 Bc4 60.Kc3 Kd5 61.Rb7 Rg3+ 62.Kb2 Kxd4 0-1

Svidler,P (2746) - Inarkiev,E (2684) [E63]
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.Re1 Rb8 9.Rb1 Re8 10.d5 Na5 11.Qd3 c5 12.e4 Nd7 13.b3 e5 14.a3 Qc7 15.Be3 b5 16.cxb5 Nxb3 17.a4 Nd4 18.Nd2 axb5 19.Nxb5 Nxb5 20.axb5 Nb6 21.Bf1 Bd7 22.Ra1 Rb7 23.Reb1 Reb8 24.Ra6 Qd8 25.Qa3 Nc8 26.Ra8 Bf8 27.Rxb8 Rxb8 28.Qa6 Nb6 29.Nc4 Nxc4 30.Bxc4 Ra8 31.Qb7 f6 32.b6 Rb8 33.Qa7 Ra8 34.Qb7 Rb8 35.Qa7 Ra8 36.Bxc5 dxc5 37.d6+ Kh8 38.Qc7 Rb8 39.b7 Be7 40.Qxc5 Bf8 41.Qc7 Bb5 42.Qxd8 Rxd8 43.Rxb5 Bxd6 44.Rd5 1-0

Navara,D (2672) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [D12]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Be4 7.f3 Bg6 8.Qb3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Be7 10.Be2 Bh5 11.0-0-0 dxc4 12.Qxc4 a6 13.g4 b5 14.Qd3 Bg6 15.Nxg6 hxg6 16.f4 c5 17.dxc5 Qxc5 18.Kb1 Nc6 19.Ne4 Qb6 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.h4 Rd8 22.Qc3 Bb4 23.Qxf6 Bxd2 24.h5 Qxe3 25.hxg6 Qe4+ 26.Ka1 Rf8 27.gxf7+ Kd7 28.Rxd2+ Kc7 29.Rxd8 Qxh1+ 30.Rd1 Qe4 31.Bd3 Qf3 32.Rc1 Qxd3 33.Qe7+ 1-0

Final Standings:


Overall Grand Prix Standings after this first tournament:
Gashimov, Wang, Carlsen = 153.33
Memadyarov, Grischuk = 105
Adams, Svidler = 85
Radjabov, Kamsky, Karjakin = 60
Cheparinov, Navara = 35
Bacrot, Inarkiev = 15

Baku Round 12 - Five Decisive Games

Carlsen,M (2765) - Adams,Mi (2729) [E37]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.e3 Qa5+ 11.b4 Nxb4 12.axb4 Qxa1 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.Ne2 a6 15.Bd3 Bd7 16.f3 Ba4 17.Qb2 Qxb2 18.Bxb2 Ng5 19.Nd4 Bd7 20.Kf2 f6 21.Ra1 Ke7 22.Bc2 Rhd8 23.h4 Nf7 24.Bxh7 Rh8 25.Bc2 Rxh4 26.Bb3 Rh5 27.Ne2 Bc6 28.Nf4 Rg5 29.b5 Bxb5 30.Nxd5+ Kf8 31.Nc7 Rd8 32.Ne6+ Ke8 33.Bd4 Bd7 34.Nxd8 Nxd8 35.Rh1 Ke7 36.e4 Ne6 37.Be3 Re5 38.Rh7 Kf8 39.Bc2 Bc6 40.f4 Bxe4 41.Rh8+ Ke7 42.Rb8 Nd8 43.fxe5 Bxc2 44.exf6+ gxf6 45.Bd4 f5 46.Be3 Kd7 47.Bg5 Ne6 48.Rxb7+ Kc8 49.Rb2 Be4 50.Be7 Nf4 51.Ra2 Kd7 52.Bd6 Nxg2 53.Rxa6 f4 54.Ra4 Bc6 55.Ra7+ Ke6 56.Ra6 Kd5 1-0

Radjabov,T (2751) - Navara,D (2672) [B46]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 d6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4 0-0 10.a4 Bd7 11.Nb3 Na5 12.Nd2 Be8 13.Bd3 d5 14.e5 d4 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Nde4 Be7 17.f5 exf5 18.Rxf5 dxe3 19.Nd5 Nc6 20.Nef6+ Bxf6 21.Nxf6+ Kh8 22.Qh5 h6 23.Raf1 Nb4 24.Rg5 e2 25.Bxe2 Qd2 26.Rg3 Nxc2 27.Bd3 Ne3 28.Qg5 Qxg2+ 29.Rxg2 hxg5 30.Rxg5 g6 31.Rf3 Kg7 32.h4 Rd8 33.Nh5+ Kh6 34.Nf4 Nf5 35.Bxf5 gxf5 36.Rxf5 Rg8+ 37.Kf2 Rg4 38.Rh5+ Kg7 39.Rg5+ Rxg5 40.hxg5 Rd2+ 41.Kg3 Rxb2 42.a5 Rb5 43.Kh4 Rxa5 44.Nh5+ Kg8 45.Nf6+ Kf8 46.Kh5 Ra1 47.Rh3 Bc6 0-1

Gashimov,V (2679) - Grischuk,A (2716) [C72]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d4 b5 8.Bb3 Nxd4 9.hxg4 Nxb3 10.axb3 hxg4 11.Ng5 Qd7 12.Qd3 Rb8 13.Rxa6 f6 14.Nc3 fxg5 15.Bxg5 Be7 16.f4 gxf3 17.Qxf3 Nf6 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.Qf7+ Kd8 20.Qxg7 Kc8 21.Qxh8+ Kb7 22.Qh7 Qg4 23.exd5 Qd4+ 24.Kh1 Bxg5 25.Rfa1 Be3 26.Ra7+ Qxa7 27.Rxa7+ Bxa7 28.g4 Rf8 29.g5 Rf2 30.Qe4 Rf1+ 31.Kh2 Rf4 32.Qxf4 exf4 33.c3 1-0

Mamedyarov,S (2752) - Bacrot,E (2705) [D15]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Qd2 b6 8.e4 bxc5 9.exd5 cxd4 10.Qxd4 c5 11.Qd2 Nxf4 12.Qxf4 g6 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.Qxe5 Rg8 15.Bc4 Bg7 16.Qe2 Bd4 17.0-0 Kf8 18.Rfe1 Rb8 19.Rad1 Rb6 20.Rd3 Bf5 21.Rd2 Qd6 22.Qf3 Kg7 23.Rde2 Qf6 24.Nd1 Re8 25.b3 Bd7 26.Qg3 Rd6 27.Re4 h6 28.h4 Kf8 29.Rf4 Qg7 30.Rfe4 Qf6 31.Ne3 h5 32.Nc2 Bf5 33.Rf4 Bc3 34.Re2 Qg7 35.Ne3 Bd7 36.Re4 f5 37.Rxe7 Qxe7 38.Ng4 f4 39.Qxc3 Qg7 40.Ne5 Bg4 41.Re1 Kg8 42.a4 Qf6 43.a5 Kg7 44.g3 fxg3 45.Qxg3 Bc8 46.Kh2 Rf8 47.Nd3 Bg4 48.Kg1 Rc8 49.Re5 Bf3 50.Kh2 Rcd8 51.Rg5 Rf8 52.Nxc5 Qa1 53.Qe5+ Qxe5+ 54.Rxe5 Rf5 55.Rxf5 gxf5 56.b4 Rg6 57.Ne6+ Kf6 58.Ng5 Bd1 59.Bxa6 Ke5 60.Bb7 Be2 61.Nf7+ Kf6 62.Ng5 Ke5 63.Bc6 Bc4 64.f4+ Kxf4 65.b5 Ke5 66.b6 Bxd5 67.Bxd5 Kxd5 68.b7 Rg8 69.a6 Kc6 70.Ne6 Kb6 71.Nc5 Rd8 72.Nd7+ Kc7 73.b8Q+ 1-0

Kamsky,G (2726) - Svidler,P (2746) [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.Qh5 Qc5 10.Qxc5 dxc5 11.Nb3 Bd6 12.g3 Ke7 13.Bg2 Ra7 14.0-0-0 Rd8 15.a4 b6 16.Nd2 Rad7 17.Nc4 Bc7 18.Rxd7+ Bxd7 19.Re1 Be8 20.Na3 Kf8 21.Bf1 Bc6 22.b3 Bb7 23.Rd1 Rd4 24.Bd3 Nc6 25.Ne2 Rd8 26.c3 Ke7 27.Bc2 Rb8 28.Bd3 Na7 29.c4 Nc6 30.Nc2 h5 31.h4 Rg8 32.Kd2 Nd4 33.Ncxd4 cxd4 34.b4 e5 35.c5 bxc5 36.Rc1 f5 37.exf5 e4 38.Bc4 d3 39.Nc3 Rxg3 40.Nxe4 Bxf4+ 0-1

Standings:
Gashimov, Wang - 7.5
Carlsen, Memadyarov, Grischuk - 7

Baku Round 11

Wang Yue (2689) - Svidler,P (2746) [D80]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.Qa4+ Qd7 8.Qxc4 b6 9.Bg3 Nc6 10.Nf3 Bg7 11.e3 0-0 12.Be2 Bb7 13.0-0 Na5 14.Qb4 Rac8 15.Ne5 Qd6 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.Qa4 c5 18.e4 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Qc6 20.Qxc6 Nxc6 21.Bg4 Ra8 22.Bc7 cxd4 23.Bxd8 Rxd8 24.Be2 e5 25.Rac1 Kf8 26.f3 a6 27.Kf2 Ke7 28.Bc4 Rd7 29.Bd5 dxc3 30.Bxc6 Rxd1 31.Rxd1 Bxc6 32.Rc1 Bd7 33.Rxc3 Kd6 34.Rd3+ Kc6 35.g4 Be6 36.a3 g5 37.Ke3 Kc7 38.Rd1 b5 39.h4 h6 40.Rh1 Kd6 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Rh5 f6 43.Rh6 Ke7 44.Rh7+ Bf7 45.Rh8 a5 46.Ra8 a4 47.Ra7+ Ke8 48.Rc7 1-0

Bacrot,E (2705) - Inarkiev,E (2684) [C69]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Nxe5 Qd4 7.Nf3 Qxe4 8.d3 Qg4 9.Nc3 Be6 10.Re1 h6 11.h3 Qh5 12.Re5 g5 13.Ne2 Qg6 14.Ned4 Bd7 15.Qe2 f6 16.Ne6 Kf7 17.d4 Bd6 18.Nc5 fxe5 19.Nxd7 Qf5 20.Ndxe5+ Kg7 21.Nc4 Rf8 22.Nxd6 cxd6 23.Qe7+ 0-1

Standings:
Wang, Grischuk - 7
Gashimov - 6.5
Carlsen, Memadyarov, Adams - 6

Baku Round 10

Radjabov,T (2751) - Cheparinov,I (2696) [B10]
1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 g6 4.Ngf3 Bg7 5.g3 e5 6.Bg2 Ne7 7.0-0 0-0 8.b4 a5 9.bxa5 Qxa5 10.Bb2 d4 11.Nb3 Qc7 12.c3 dxc3 13.Bxc3 c5 14.Nfd2 b5 15.Qc2 Na6 16.Rfc1 Be6 17.Nf1 Nc6 18.Ne3 c4 19.dxc4 bxc4 20.Nd5 cxb3 21.Nxc7 bxc2 22.Nxa8 Nd4 23.Nb6 Rb8 24.Ba5 Bh6 25.Bf1 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Nc6 27.Rxc2 Nxa5 28.Nd5 Nb4 29.Rc5 Nbc6 30.a4 Kg7 31.Kg2 Rb7 32.h4 Ra7 33.Nc3 Bd7 34.Bb5 Nb3 35.Rd5 Nbd4 36.f4 exf4 37.gxf4 Nxb5 38.axb5 Ne7 39.Rc5 Rb7 40.h5 Nc8 41.hxg6 hxg6 42.Kg3 Na7 43.f5 Nxb5 0-1

Standings:
Grischuk - 6.5
Wang, Gashimov - 6
Memadyarov, Carlsen, Adams - 5.5