FIDE World Cup Round 6

For 1-4 places
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) in tiebreak
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Bacrot, Etienne (FRA), 1.5-0.5

For 5-8 places
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) over Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) in tiebreak
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL), 2-0

For 9-12 places
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) in tiebreak
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) in tiebreak

For 13-16 places
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Lautier, Joel (FRA) in tiebreak
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5

FIDE World Cup Round 5

To determine Places 1-8
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Bareev, Evgeny (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) over Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL), 1.5-0.5
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Gelfand, Boris (ISR) in tiebreak

To determine Places 9-16
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Lautier, Joel (FRA), 1.5-0.5
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) over Dreev, Alexey (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) over Van Wely, Loek (NED) in tiebreak

FIDE World Cup Round 4

Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Kamsky, Gata (USA), 1.5-0.5
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS), 1.5-0.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Van Wely, Loek (NED), 2-0

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties, with the blitz tiebreak winner indicated in bold:
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) - Carlsen, Magnus (NOR)
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Lautier, Joel (FRA)
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) - Aronian, Levon (ARM)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) - Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS)

Note that for the remaining rounds, nobody is eliminated. They simply keep playing in winners and losers brackets until places 1-16 are decided. Places 1-10 continue to the next stage of the FIDE Championship cycle. So Aronian, Bacrot, Bareev, Gelfand, Grischuk, Gurevich, Ponomariov and Rublevsky have qualified for the 2006 Candidate matches (but of course, the little matter of the winner of the $100K first prize still needs to be determined). The other eight players are still fighting for the last two qualification slots.

FIDE World Cup Round 3

The following matches were decisive:
Aronian, Levon (ARM) over Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR), 1.5-0.5
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) over Shirov, Alexei (ESP), 1.5-0.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Xu, Jun (CHN), 2-0
Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) over Tiviakov, Sergei (NED), 2-0
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) over Sokolov, Ivan (NED), 1.5-0.5

The following matches went to tiebreaks:
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) over Sutovsky, Emil (ISR)
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) over Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL)
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) over Shulman, Yuri (USA)
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO)
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Radjabov, Teimur (AZE)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Harikrishna, Pentala (IND)
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Smirin, Ilia (ISR)
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) over Efimenko, Zahar (UKR)
Lautier, Joel (FRA) over Najer, Evgeniy (RUS)
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) over Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB)

FIDE World Cup Round 2

Ivanchuk (#1) upset by Cheparinov (#64)!

The following matches had decisive results:
Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) - Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL): 0.5-1.5
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Kempinski, Robert (POL): 1.5-0.5
Aronian, Levon (ARM) - Sadvakasov, Darmen (KAZ): 2-0
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) - Istratescu, Andrei (ROM): 2-0
Shirov, Alexei (ESP) - Kotronias, Vasilios (GRE): 2-0
Lane, Gary (AUS) - Jobava, Baadur (GEO): 0.5-1.5
Sokolov, Ivan (NED) - Zhang, Zhong (CHN): 2-0
Bologan, Viorel (MDA) - Efimenko, Zahar (UKR): 0-2
Lautier, Joel (FRA) - Ivanov, Alexander (USA): 1.5-0.5
Bareev, Evgeny (RUS) - Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER): 1.5-0.5
Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP) - Leitao, Rafael (BRA): 1.5-0.5
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - Nikolic, Predrag (BIH): 2-0
Cao, Sang (HUN) - Xu, Jun (CHN): 0.5-1.5
Balogh, Csaba (HUN) - Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR): 0.5-1.5
Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) - Ammonatov, Farrukh (TJK): 1.5-0.5

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties and were decided in blitz tiebreaks:
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) over Felgaer, Ruben (ARG)
Radjabov, Teimur (AZE) over Kazhgaleyev, Murtas (KAZ)
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) over Motylev, Alexander (RUS)
Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) over Korneev, Oleg (RUS)
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) over Paragua, Mark (PHI)
Kamsky, Gata (USA) over Bocharov, Dmitry (RUS)
Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB) over Onischuk, Alexander (USA)
Najer, Evgeniy (RUS) over Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE)
Smirin, Ilia (ISR) over Wang, Yue (CHN)
Harikrishna, Pentala (IND) over Vescovi, Giovanni (BRA)
Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) over Erenburg, Sergey (ISR)
Van Wely, Loek (NED) over Moiseenko, Alexander (UKR)
Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) over Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND)
Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL) over Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO) over Ganguly, Surya Sekar (IND)
Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) over Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)

Shulman - Khalifman ended in a 3-3 tie, and the sudden death seventh game also ended in a draw so Shulman who had the Black pieces advanced to the third round.

FIDE World Cup Round 1

The 2005 FIDE World Cup is under way. The official website is here. Unlike the ones in 1999-2004, this World Cup will not determine the FIDE Champion but is only the first step in the 2005-2007 FIDE Championship cycle. The field consists of 114 GMs (including eight 2700+ players), 7 IMs, 3 FMs and 3 untitled players.

The first 10 places in this World Cup tournament will join five players with the highest ratings who do not otherwise qualify for the cycle (that would be Leko, Adams, Polgar plus Kasparov and Kramnik - I suspect we will need two substitutes) and the former FIDE champion (Kasimdzhanov) in two rounds of candidate matches. The four survivors of this elimination will join the first 4 places in the 2005 San Luis FIDE Championship tournament (Topalov, Svidler, Anand, Morozevich) for the 2007 FIDE Championship tournament.

The winners in round 1 were:

Sibriaev, Aleksandr (RUS) - Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR): ½-1½
Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) - Chumfwa, Stanley (ZAM): 2-0
Frhat, Ali (EGY) - Aronian, Levon (ARM): 0-2
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) - Needleman, Gaston (ARG): 2-0
Kobese, Watu (RSA) - Gelfand, Boris (ISR): 0-2
Shirov, Alexei (ESP) - Kuderinov, Kiril (KAZ): 1½-½
Radjabov, Teimur (AZE) - Flores, Diego (ARG): 2-0
Ahmed, Adly (EGY) - Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR): ½-1½
Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) - Belkhodja, Slim (TUN): 2-0
Stefanova, Antoaneta (BUL) - Sokolov, Ivan (NED): ½-1½
Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - Charbonneau, Pascal (CAN): 2-0
Zhao, Yun (CHN) - Kamsky, Gata (USA): ½-1½
Bologan, Viorel (MDA) - Matamoros, Carlos (ECU): 2-0
Rodrigo, Vasquez (CHI) - Bareev, Evgeny (RUS): ½-1½
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - Wang, Hao (CHN): 1½-½
Lima, Darcy Gustavo (BRA) - Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS): 0-2
Volokitin, Andrei (UKR) - Cao, Sang (HUN): ½-1½
Kuzubov, Yuriy (UKR) - Moiseenko, Alexander (UKR): 0-2
Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) - Iljushin, Alexei (RUS): 1½-½
Nakamura, Hikaru (USA) - Ganguly, Surya Sekar (IND): 0-2
Stripunsky, Alexander (USA) - Areshchenko, Alexander (UKR): 0-2
Pantsulaia, Levan (GEO) - Milov, Vadim (SUI): 1½-½
Dao, Thien Hai (VIE) - Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS): ½-1½
Van Wely, Loek (NED) - Minasian, Artashes (ARM): 2-0
Xu, Jun (CHN) - Ye, Jiangchuan (CHN): 1½-½
Vescovi, Giovanni (BRA) - Adianto, Utut (INA): 1½-½
Wang, Yue (CHN) - Asrian, Karen (ARM): 1½-½
Ghaem, Maghami Ehsan (IRI) - Najer, Evgeniy (RUS): ½-1½
Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) - Kotsur, Pavel (KAZ): 1½-½
Popov, Valerij (RUS) - Onischuk, Alexander (USA): ½-1½
Granda-Zuniga, Julio (PER) - Ivanov, Alexander (USA): ½-1½
Smirnov, Pavel (RUS) - Bocharov, Dmitry (RUS): ½-1½
Paragua, Mark (PHI) - Movsesian, Sergei (SVK): 1½-½
Motylev, Alexander (RUS) - Roiz, Michael (ISR): 1½-½
Kazhgaleyev, Murtas (KAZ) - Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS): 1½-½
Ni, Hua (CHN) - Kotronias, Vasilios (GRE): ½-1½
Felgaer, Ruben (ARG) - Kaidanov, Gregory S (USA): 1½-½
Milos, Gilberto (BRA) - Sadvakasov, Darmen (KAZ): ½-1½

The following matches ended in 1-1 ties. The subsequent winner of the blitz tiebreak (Nov 29) is indicated in bold.

Pridorozhni, Aleksei (RUS) - Lautier, Joel (FRA)
Bruzon, Lazaro (CUB) - Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS)
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (AZE) - Ibraev, Nurlan (KAZ)
Li, Shilong (CHN) - Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP)
Smirin, Ilia (ISR) - Arencibia, Walter (CUB)
Yu, Shaoteng (CHN) - Harikrishna, Pentala (IND)
Kudrin, Sergey (USA) - Eljanov, Pavel (UKR)
Shulman, Yuri (USA) - Zvjaginsev, Vadim (RUS)
Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) - Balogh, Csaba (HUN)
Agrest, Evgenij (SWE) - Timofeev, Artyom (RUS)
Azmaiparashvili, Zurab (GEO) - Carlsen, Magnus (NOR)
Ammonatov, Farrukh (TJK) - Krasenkow, Michal (POL)
Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) - Hamdouchi, Hichem (MAR)
Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) - Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS)
Gurevich, Mikhail (TUR) - Markus, Robert (SCG)
Izoria, Zviad (GEO) - Erenburg, Sergey (ISR)
Nikolic, Predrag (BIH) - Navara, David (CZE)
Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) - Leitao, Rafael (BRA)
Macieja, Bartlomiej (POL) - Efimenko, Zahar (UKR)
Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS) - Zhang, Zhong (CHN)
Korneev, Oleg (RUS) - Miroshnichenko, Evgenij (UKR)
Beliavsky, Alexander G (SLO) - Jobava, Baadur (GEO)
Ftacnik, Lubomir (SVK) - Istratescu, Andrei (ROM)
Vaganian, Rafael A (ARM) - Kempinski, Robert (POL)
Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) - Fedorov, Alexei (BLR)

Akopian (#7 seed) was unable to participate due to ill health, so his scheduled opponent (Lane) got a bye straight into round 2.

Chess Championship History

Check out this fascinating site describing the history of the World, USSR and US chess championships. The World Championship section makes an excellent supplement to Kasparov's My Great Predecessors.

In an earlier post I had referenced another site that discussed the world chess championship and is also well worth looking through.

Chrysalis Books sold to its management

Chrysalis has signed a conditional sale and purchase agreement for the disposal of its books division to Anova Books Company Limited, a new company formed by Robin Wood (Chief Executive of Chrysalis Books) and senior managers of Chrysalis Books, for this purpose. The terms of the Disposal provide for the acquisition of 100% of the issued share capital of Chrysalis Books Group, together with the benefit of the outstanding inter-company debt owed by Chrysalis Books Group to Chrysalis Group at the date of the acquisition, for a purchase consideration of £12.5 million. The consideration will take the form of £9.0 million convertible 10-year loan stock and £3.5 million 3% cumulative redeemable preference shares, each to be issued by Anova and held by Chrysalis Group.

Chrysalis Books is the owner of the former Batsford Books that went bankrupt in 1999.

One final thought on Kramnik-Topalov

Kasparov thinks Topalov who won the FIDE championship ahead of the strongest active players in the world does not need to play Kramnik: "The schism in the chess world is over. It was brought about by the world champion not being the best player in the world. Now that he is, the matter can be closed."

I'm not clear on how Kasparov meshes this thought with page 9 of his own book My Great Predecessors I where he says that Kramnik is world champion 2000-? based on winning a match against him in London in 2000. Immediately following that match Kasparov declared that Kramnik was the real world champion and the FIDE rankings could be sent to the trash. So ... how exactly did the crown pass from Kramnik to Topalov?

More on Unification

Topalov should stop being a pussy and just play him already. If he is as superior as he thinks, he should have no problem beating Kramnik. Kramnik should say "whatsa matta? Afriad of losing to someone who has 60 less points than you? Bok bok bok chicken, bok bok!!!"

I agree completely. The SOA (or CAS) are often asked if completing certain coursework exempts you from taking certain exams. The Society's response: "Individuals who claim competence in the areas covered by the examinations should not have difficulty demonstrating their competence by participating in the examination process."

A few things worth noting:
1. When Kramnik played Kasparov in 2000, Kasparov's rating was 79 points higher than Kramnik's. That didn't stop Kramnik from spanking Kasparov 2-0.
2. Kramnik’s record against Topalov is +19 -9 =34. Even this year (Topalov’s best and Kramnik’s worst), they have two wins apiece and two draws.
3. NOW Kramnik is rated 60 points lower. But in 2002 Topalov tried to qualify at Dortmund to play Kramnik for the title, when Topalov was rated (you guessed it) 60 points lower.

I am of the opinion that the WC should be won in a match. However, even if the title in the future were to be won in a tournament in the future, today Topalov still needs to play Kramnik to take his title from him. The problem is that Topalov knows he doesn't have the match experience necessary to beat Kramnik.

Unification Dead

Kramnik: Generally speaking, I believe that the World Champion should be determined exclusively in a match. As for a candidates' qualification scheme it is quite acceptable to have it organized as in San Luis. For example, half of the participants according to their ratings, the other half through a qualification cycle. The knockout system proposed, actively agitated for, and imposed by FIDE has long since compromised itself. In accordance with the Prague Agreement of 2002 I am prepared to play in a reunification match. I've read comments in the press that Veselin does not believe I am a worthy contender for the title, given my relatively low rating as the basis for his argument. World championship and tournament performance are two entirely separate entities. I firmly believe that I am the real World Chess Champion. I won this title in a contest against Kasparov and later defended my title in a match against Leko. My title is legitimate and this was acknowledged even by FIDE in the Prague Accords. Should anyone, like Topalov, believe that he is stronger, let him beat me in a match.

Topalov: Topalov is not going to accept an unscheduled challenge by a player who is 60 points below him in the ratings list. Garry Kasparov agrees with Topalov and thinks the Bulgarian who won the FIDE championship ahead of the strongest active players in the world does not need to play Kramnik: "The schism in the chess world is over. It was brought about by the world champion not being the best player in the world. Now that he is, the matter can be closed." Topalov: "Kramnik is one of the best players of the last decade. However, he is currently number seven in FIDE world rankings, and I don’t think he has the right to challenge me. When I was the world's number seven player it never occurred to me that I had the right to challenge world's number one.” Topalov stressed that Kramnik had been invited to San Luis, but had refused to participate. Hence, in Topalov’s opinion, Kramnik has automatically lost the right to contend for the title. It is certainly true that five years ago Kramnik had defeated Kasparov. However, according to Topalov, Kramnik’s latest results do not provide sufficient grounds to have any claims for the title. Topalov: “There’s a big difference in our ratings. In chess 60 Elo points means a different class altogether. If Vladimir was offered to play against someone 60 Elo points below himself he’d simply burst out laughing. I do not believe we can play for the title because I’ve already won it here in San Luis. A Topalov-Kramnik match for the title is out of question, because FIDE has organised a two-year cycle for the world championship, analogous to the one we had in San Luis, where eight qualifiers will fight for the title. Thus the tournament shall determine the new holder of the Crown. That is the plan."

Kronsteen – McAdams, 1963

Continuing my theme of fictional chess scenes based on real chess games.

In the famous chess scene at the beginning of the Bond movie "From Russia With Love" we see Kronsteen of SPECTRE playing the Canadian McAdams. The score is 11½–11½. The scene is based on Spassky-Bronstein from the 1960 USSR Championship.

Spassky-Bronstein
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d5 4.exd5 Bd6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.d4 0-0 7.Bd3 Nd7 8.0-0 h6 9.Ne4 Nxd5 10.c4 Ne3 11.Bxe3 fxe3 12.c5 Be7 13.Bc2 Re8 14.Qd3 e2 15.Nd6 Nf8 16.Nxf7 exf1Q+ 17.Rxf1 Bf5 18.Qxf5 Qd7 19.Qf4 Bf6 20.N3e5 Qe7 21.Bb3 Bxe5

This is the starting position in the movie, except that the two White pawns on d4 and c5 were removed. Both the real and movie games continued...

22.Nxe5+ Kh7 23.Qe4+ (1-0)

However, what's odd is that in the original game, 22....Kh7 was not a blunder as Black had no defense. But in the movie, McAdams could have defended with 22....Ne6, which would not have worked in the position facing Bronstein.

So my question is WHY would the movie producers change the board position? Were they TRYING to make the point that Kronsteen could have been held off with calm defense, or am I giving them too much credit?

FIDE Championship (Final) Round 14

Results:
Topalov-Polgar, ½-½
Svidler-Anand, ½-½
Morozevich-Adams, ½-½
Leko-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0

The games
http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch14.htm

Final Standings:


Some things to note:

• Topalov was the only player to go undefeated, beating every other player except Anand by 1.5-0.5. His performance rating was 2890. At the end of the first half, he had scored +6 =1 for a performance of 3177 and was well positioned to break Karpov's record performance at Linares 1994, but in the second half he drew all seven games.
• Judith Polgar had a horrible tournament, losing 6 times and turning in a 2610 performance
• Morozevich and Polgar were the only players to get skunked (by Svidler and Anand, respectively).
• Adams (-3 =11) was the only player to go through the tournament without a single win.

FIDE Championship Round 13 - It's All Over

Topalov the winner with one round to go!

Results:
Kasimdzhanov-Topalov, ½-½
Adams-Leko, ½-½
Anand-Morozevich, ½-½
Polgar-Svidler, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 9.5
Anand, Svidler - 8
Morozevich - 6.5
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 5.5
Adams - 5
Polgar - 4

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch13.htm

FIDE Championship Round 12

Results:
Topalov-Svidler, ½-½
Morozevich-Polgar, ½-½
Leko-Anand, 0-1
Kasimdzhanov-Adams, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 9
Anand, Svidler - 7.5
Morozevich - 6
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 5
Adams - 4.5
Polgar - 3.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch12.htm

FIDE Championship Round 11

Results:
Adams-Topalov, ½-½
Anand-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Polgar-Leko, ½-½
Svidler-Morozevich, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 8.5
Svidler - 7
Anand - 6.5
Morozevich - 5.5
Leko - 5
Kasimdzhanov - 4.5
Adams - 4
Polgar - 3

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch11.htm

FIDE Championship Round 10

Results:
Topalov-Morozevich, ½-½
Leko-Svidler, ½-½
Kasimdzhanov-Polgar, 1-0
Adams-Anand, ½-½

Standings:
Topalov - 8
Svidler - 6
Anand, Morozevich- 5.5
Kasimdzhanov, Leko - 4.5
Adams - 3.5
Polgar - 2.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch10.htm

FIDE Championship Round 9

Results:
Anand-Topalov, ½-½
Polgar-Adams, ½-½
Svidler-Kasimdzhanov, ½-½
Morozevich-Leko, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 7.5
Svidler - 5.5
Morozevich, Anand - 5
Leko - 4
Kasimdzhanov - 3.5
Adams - 3
Polgar - 2.5

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch09.htm

FIDE Championship Round 8

Results:
Topalov-Leko, ½-½
Kasimdzhanov-Morozevich, 0-1
Adams-Svidler, ½-½
Anand-Polgar, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 7
Svidler - 5
Anand - 4.5
Leko, Morozevich - 4
Kasimdzhanov - 3
Adams - 2.5
Polgar - 2

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch08.htm

FIDE Championship Round 7

Topalov wins 6 out of 7!

Topalov won every game except against Anand. His performance rating stands at an amazing 3177!

Results:
Topalov-Kasimdzhanov, 1-0
Leko-Adams, 1-0
Morozevich-Anand, 1-0
Svidler-Polgar, 1-0

Standings:
Topalov - 6.5
Svidler - 4.5
Leko, Anand - 3.5
Morozevich, Kasimdzhanov - 3
Polgar - 2.5
Adams - 2

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2005/sanluis/games/wcch07.htm