World Champion Vasily Smyslov dies at 89

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6219

Karpov to run for FIDE President

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6179

I can't think of a better qualified candidate. It's really time to get rid of the criminal who has been running things for 15 years.

Topalov Wins Linares

Carlsen is on a roll - wins Wijk

Kramnik and Shirov share 2nd.

2010 Rating List

1 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2810
2 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2805
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2790
4 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2788
5 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2781
6 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2761
7 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2759
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2749
9 Wang, Yue g CHN 2749
10 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2744
11 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2741
12 Leko, Peter g HUN 2739
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2737
14 Eljanov, Pavel g UKR 2736
15 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736

An old fogey match that's more interesting than chess "at the top"

Spassky-Korchnoi match ends 4-4

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6013

Spassky-Korchnoi Exhibition Match Drawn +2 -2 =4

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=70364

World Cup R7 - Final

Gelfand beats Ponomariov in second (blitz) round of tiebreaks

World Cup R6

Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 0 0 0.0
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 1 1 2.0

Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 4.0
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 2.0

World Cup R5

Gelfand, Boris (ISR) ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3.5
Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1.5

Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 3.5
Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1.5

Svidler, Peter (RUS) 0 ½ 0.5
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) 1 ½ 1.5

Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 1 ½ 1.5
Mamedyarov, Shakh. (AZE) 0 ½ 0.5

World Cup R4

Vachier-Lagrave, Max. (FRA) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0
Gelfand, Boris (ISR) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1

Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 3.5
Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1.5

Shirov, Alexei (ESP) 0 ½ 0.5
Svidler, Peter (RUS) 1 ½ 1.5

Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) 0 ½ 0.5
Mamedyarov, Shakh. (AZE) 1 ½ 1.5

Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) ½ 1 1.5
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) ½ 0 0.5

So, Wesley (PHI) ½ ½ 0 0 0 1.0
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) ½ ½ 1 1 1 4.0

Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 2.5
Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3.5

Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0
Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1

World Cup R3

Gelfand, Boris (ISR) 1 0 1 ½ 1 3.5
Polgar, Judit (HUN) 0 1 0 ½ 0 1.5

Li, Chao (CHN) ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1.5
Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3.5

Svidler, Peter (RUS) ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 5.0
Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 0 3.0

Bologan, Viktor (MDA) ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1.5
Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3.5

Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) 0 ½ 0.5
Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) 1 ½ 1.5

Kamsky, Gata (USA) 0 ½ 0.5
So, Wesley (PHI) 1 ½ 1.5

Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) 1 ½ 1.5
Motylev, Alexander (RUS) 0 ½ 0.5

Jobava, Baadur (GEO) ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 0 3.0
Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 5.0

Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 4.0
Areshchenko, Alex. (UKR) 0 1 0 ½ ½ 0 2.0

Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3.5
Wang, Yue (CHN) ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1.5

Eljanov, Pavel (UKR) ½ ½ 0 0 0 1.0
Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) ½ ½ 1 1 1 4.0

Navara, David (CZE) 1 0 0 0 0 1.0
Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 0 1 1 1 1 4.0

Mamedyarov, Shak. (AZE) 1 ½ 1.5
Wang, Hao (CHN) 0 ½ 0.5

Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) ½ 0 0.5
Shirov, Alexei (ESP) ½ 1 1.5

Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 3.5
Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 2.5

Vachier-Lagrave, Max. (FRA) 1 ½ 1.5
Yu, Yangyi (CHN) 0 ½ 0.5

World Cup R2

No. Name Nat. G1 G2 R1 R2 R3 R4 B1 B2 Tot
1 Amonatov, Farrukh TJK ½ 0 0.5
Gelfand, Boris ISR ½ 1 1.5
2 Gashimov, Vugar AZE ½ 1 1.5
Zhou, Jianchao CHN ½ 0 0.5
3 Nyback, Tomi FIN 1 0 0 ½ 0 1.5
Svidler, Peter RUS 0 1 1 ½ 1 3.5
4 Morozevich, Alexender RUS 0 0 0.0
Laznicka, Viktor CZE 1 1 2.0
5 Sakaev, Konstantin RUS 1 ½ 1.5
Radjabov, Teimour AZE 0 ½ 0.5
6 Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR 0 ½ 0.5
So, Wesley PHI 1 ½ 1.5
7 Akobian, Varuzhan USA ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 0 2.0
Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 4.0
8 Grischuk, Alexander RUS 1 ½ 1.5
Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA 0 ½ 0.5
9 Sandipan, Chanda IND 0 0 0.0
Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS 1 1 2.0
10 Wang, Yue CHN 1 1 2.0
Savchenko, Boris RUS 0 0 0.0
11 Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 1 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1.5
Eljanov, Pavel UKR 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 3.5
12 Karjakin, Sergey UKR ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 3.5
Timofeev, Artyom RUS ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 2.5
13 Milov, Vadim SUI 0 0 0.0
Mamedyarov, Shak. AZE 1 1 2.0
14 Shirov, Alexei ESP 1 0 1 1 1 4.0
Fedorchuk, Sergey UKR 0 1 0 0 0 1.0
15 Caruana, Fabiano ITA ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 1 3.5
Dominguez, Leinier CUB ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 2.5
16 Yu, Yangyi CHN 1 ½ 1.5
Bartel, Mateusz POL 0 ½ 0.5
17 Meier, Georg GER ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 2.5
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 3.5
18 Alekseev, Evgeny RUS ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 3.5
Fressinet, Laurent FRA ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 1.5
19 Khalifman, Alexander RUS ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 2.5
Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 3.5
20 Wang, Hao CHN 1 ½ 1.5
Ganguly, Surya IND 0 ½ 0.5
21 Shabalov, Alexander USA ½ ½ 0 0 1 2.5
Navara, David CZE ½ ½ 1 1 0 3.5
22 Malakhov, Vladimir RUS ½ ½ ½ 1 1 3.5
Smirin, Ilia ISR ½ ½ ½ 0 0 1.5
23 Sasikiran, Krishnan IND 0 0 0.0
Bacrot, Etienne FRA 1 1 2.0
24 Rublevsky, Sergei RUS ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 2.5
Areshchenko, Alexander UKR ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 3.5
25 Iturrizaga, Eduardo VEN ½ 0 0.5
Jobava, Baadur GEO ½ 1 1.5
26 Motylev, Alexander RUS 1 ½ 1.5
Najer, Evgeniy RUS 0 ½ 0.5
27 Zhou, Weiqi CHN 0 ½ 0.5
Kamsky, Gata USA 1 ½ 1.5
28 Vitiugov, Nikita RUS ½ ½ 1 1 0 0 ½ 1 4.5
Milos, Gilberto BRA ½ ½ 0 0 1 1 ½ 0 3.5
29 Cheparinov, Ivan BUL ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 0 2.0
Bologan, Viktor MDA ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 4.0
30 Naiditsch, Arkadij GER 1 ½ 1.5
Onischuk, Alexander USA 0 ½ 0.5
31 Li, Chao CHN 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 4.5
Pelletier, Yannick SUI 1 0 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 3.5
32 Polgar, Judit HUN ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 4.5
Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 0 ½ 3.5

World Cup R1

No. Player Player R1 R2 TB1 TB2
1 Gelfand, Boris (ISR) Obodchuk, Andrei (RUS) 1-0 ½-½
2 Sarwat, Walaa (EGY) Gashimov, Vugar (AZE) 0-1 0-1
3 Svidler, Peter (RUS) Hebert, Jean (CAN) 1-0 1-0
4 Abdel Razik, Khaled (EGY) Morozevich, Alex. (RUS) 0-1 0-1
5 Radjabov, Teimour (AZE) Ezat, Mohamed (EGY) 1-0 1-0
6 Bezgodov, Alexei (RUS) Ivanchuk, Vassily (UKR) 0-1 0-1
7 Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR) El Gindy, Essam (EGY) ½-½ 1-0
8 Sriram, Jha (IND) Grischuk, Alexander (RUS) ½-½ 0-1
9 Jakovenko, Dmitry (RUS) Rizouk, Aimen (ALG) 1-0 ½-½
10 Kabanov, Nikolai (RUS) Wang, Yue (CHN) 0-1 0-1
11 Eljanov, Pavel (UKR) Al Sayed, Mohamad (QAT) 1-0 ½-½
12 Rodriguez Vila, Andres (URU) Karjakin, Sergey (UKR) 0-1 ½-½
13 Mamedyarov, Shakh. (AZE) Kosteniuk, Alexandra (RUS) 1-0 1-0
14 Kunte, Abhijit (IND) Shirov, Alexei (ESP) ½-½ 0-1
15 Dominguez, Leinier (CUB) Smerdon, David (AUS) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:1½
16 Yu, Yangyi (CHN) Movsesian, Sergei (SVK) 1-0 ½-½
17 Vachier-Lagrave, M. (FRA) Yu, Shaoteng (CHN) ½-½ 1-0
18 Pridorozhni, Aleksei (RUS) Alekseev, Evgeny (RUS) ½-½ 0-1
19 Tomashevsky, Evgeny (RUS) Ivanov, Alexander (USA) 1-0 ½-½
20 Friedel, Joshua E (USA) Wang, Hao (CHN) 0-1 0-1
21 Navara, David (CZE) Laylo, Darwin (PHI) 1-0 0-1 2½:1½
22 Amin, Bassem (EGY) Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) 0-1 0-1
23 Bacrot, Etienne (FRA) Nijboer, Friso (NED) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:½
24 Morovic Fernandez, Ivan (CHI) Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) 0-1 ½-½
25 Jobava, Baadur (GEO) Robson, Ray (USA) 1-0 ½-½
26 Hess, Robert L (USA) Motylev, Alexander (RUS) ½-½ 0-1
27 Kamsky, Gata (USA) Antonio, Rogelio Jr (PHI) 1-0 ½-½
28 Gupta, Abhijeet (IND) Vitiugov, Nikita (RUS) ½-½ 0-1
29 Bologan, Viktor (MDA) Adly, Ahmed (EGY) 1-0 ½-½
30 Hou, Yifan (CHN) Naiditsch, Arkadij (GER) ½-½ ½-½ 1½:2½
31 Bu, Xiangzhi (CHN) Pelletier, Yannick (SUI) ½-½ 0-1
33 Nisipeanu, Liviu-D. (ROU) Lupulescu, Constantin (ROU) 1-0 ½-½
34 Li, Chao b (CHN) Sargissian, Gabriel (ARM) ½-½ ½-½ 2:2 2:0
35 Onischuk, Alexander (USA) Flores, Diego (ARG) ½-½ 1-0
36 Kryvoruchko, Yuriy (UKR) Cheparinov, Ivan (BUL) ½-½ ½-½ 1½:2½
37 Efimenko, Zahar (UKR) Milos, Gilberto (BRA) 0-1 ½-½
38 Zhou, Weiqi (CHN) Sutovsky, Emil (ISR) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:½
39 Najer, Evgeniy (RUS) Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan (IRI) 1-0 ½-½
40 Iturrizaga, Eduardo (VEN) Tiviakov, Sergei (NED) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:1½
41 Areshchenko, Alex. (UKR) Corrales, Fidel (CUB) 1-0 ½-½
42 L'Ami, Erwin (NED) Sasikiran, Krishnan (IND) ½-½ ½-½ ½:2½
43 Smirin, Ilia (ISR) Ehlvest, Jaan (USA) 1-0 ½-½
44 Shabalov, Alexander (USA) Baklan, Vladimir (UKR) 1-0 0-1 2:2 1½:½
45 Ganguly, Surya (IND) Filippov, Anton (UZB) 1-0 1-0
46 Khalifman, Alexander (RUS) Fier, Alexandr (BRA) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:1½
47 Fressinet, Laurent (FRA) Sjugirov, Sanan (RUS) 1-0 1-0
48 Petrosian, Tigran L. (ARM) Meier, Georg (GER) ½-½ 0-1
49 Grachev, Boris (RUS) Bartel, Mateusz (POL) ½-½ ½-½ 2:2 0:2
50 Bruzon Batista, Lazaro (CUB) Caruana, Fabiano (ITA) ½-½ 0-1
51 Sokolov, Ivan (NED) Fedorchuk, Sergey (UKR) 0-1 0-1
52 Negi, Parimarjan (IND) Milov, Vadim (SUI) 1-0 0-1 ½:2½
53 Timofeev, Artyom (RUS) Leitao, Rafael (BRA) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:1½
54 Gustafsson, Jan (GER) Inarkiev, Ernesto (RUS) 1-0 0-1 ½:2½
55 Savchenko, Boris (RUS) Shulman, Yuri (USA) ½-½ ½-½ 2:2 1½:½
56 Sandipan, Chanda (IND) Kobalia, Mikhail (RUS) 1-0 ½-½
57 Tkachiev, Vladislav (FRA) Le, Quang Liem (VIE) ½-½ ½-½ 2½:½
58 Akobian, Varuzhan (USA) Tregubov, Pavel V. (RUS) 1-0 0-1 2:2 7:5
59 So, Wesley (PHI) Guseinov, Gadir (AZE) 1-0 0-1 3:0
60 Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS) Granda Zuniga, Julio E (PER) ½-½ 1-0
61 Laznicka, Viktor (CZE) Papaioannou, Ioannis (GRE) 1-0 ½-½
62 Nyback, Tomi (FIN) Andreikin, Dmitry (RUS) 1-0 0-1 2:2 1½:½
63 Mamedov, Rauf (AZE) Zhou, Jianchao (CHN) ½-½ 0-1
64 Volkov, Sergey (RUS) Amonatov, Farrukh (TJK) 0-1 ½-½

November 2009 Rating List

Carlsen breaks 2800!

Rank Name Title Country Rating
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2810
2 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2801
3 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788
4 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2786
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772
6 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2758
7 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2758
8 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2754
9 Leko, Peter g HUN 2752
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750
11 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2748
12 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2739
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2739
14 Grischuk, Alexander g RUS 2736
15 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2736

Now that FIDE is publishing lists monthly, I won't post as many rating lists in this blogs. I shall probably limit myself to just each year's January list, to keep some sort of continuity with the rating lists going back to the first list in 1970 which I've posted here.

Hopefully nothing goes wrong in the next 6 months

Sofia, backed by the Bulgarian government, undertook to provide three million Euros for prize, organizational costs and FIDE fees. The world championship, scheduled for April 2010, was awarded to Sofia.

FIDE Rating List October 1

1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813 0 1975
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 0 1969
3 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2773 13 1982
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772 10 1990
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 10 1975
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2762 23 1979
7 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2757 10 1987
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2756 42 1969
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2756 33 1968
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750 18 1977
11 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2742 24 1983
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2741 9 1976
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2741 9 1983
14 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740 0 1986
15 Wang, Yue g CHN 2736 0 1987

Continuing Problems in the Chess World

When the deadline expired for bids for the World Championship Match between GM V Anand (current World Champion) and GM V Topalov, three bids had been received at the FIDE Secretariat in Athens, Greece from Bulgaria, Singapore and Turkey. These bids were opened in the presence of the FIDE Deputy President, Georgios Makropoulos and the FIDE Executive Director, David Jarrett. Under the terms of the bidding procedure, the bids should have been accompanied by financial guarantees. As none of the bids provided such a guarantee, it has been decided that the bidders have until October 15th, the day before the opening of the FIDE Executive Board at Halkidiki, Greece, to meet this condition.

Kasparov has a good observation on this sad state of affairs when discussing the recent K-K quick/blitz match in Spain...

It’s tragic that a Kasparov-Karpov match, twenty-five years after our first World Championship, five years after I retired, and Karpov no longer a real force in the chess scene, that this is still the greatest show in the world of chess. It shows that something is wrong, and I think that is a very important message, for chess organisers, for FIDE, for chess fans, for grandmasters: I mean guys, something is dead wrong, if nobody cares about everything else and everybody pays attention to a match of, okay, two old guys. Anyway, we are still here and we are creating the biggest show in the world of chess. I think it is wrong. I can only hope that things will somehow change. I don’t know how, because looking at the game of chess which is now being played in Elista, Nalchik, Sochi, Khanty-Mansiysk, sometimes Baku and Yerevan, it brings chess to obscurity. For twenty-five years since our first match chess was sliding towards obscurity, and now it is a game that is out of the mainstream. If the top leading players are happy with that there is nothing you can do about it. But I think chess deserves better.

Aronian Wins Bilbao

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5757

New Rating List

Rank Name Title Country Rating Games B-Year
1 Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2813 0 1975
2 Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2788 0 1969
3 Aronian, Levon g ARM 2773 13 1982
4 Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2772 10 1990
5 Kramnik, Vladimir g RUS 2772 10 1975
6 Leko, Peter g HUN 2762 23 1979
7 Radjabov, Teimour g AZE 2757 10 1987
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2756 42 1969
9 Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2756 33 1968
10 Morozevich, Alexander g RUS 2750 18 1977
11 Jakovenko, Dmitry g RUS 2742 24 1983
12 Svidler, Peter g RUS 2741 9 1976
13 Ponomariov, Ruslan g UKR 2741 9 1983
14 Gashimov, Vugar g AZE 2740 0 1986