Anand Strikes Back, Score 1-1

Anand,Vishwanathan (2787) - Topalov,Veselin (2805) [E04]
[Annotations by Giri,Anish]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 No Nimzo today. Against Kramnik Anand used Nimzo and it brought him a point and a good position in game 2. 3...d5. Topalov doesn't go for the safe Queen's Indian, but rather for a sharp Ragozin or Vienna. 4.g3. No! Anand goes for a calm Catalan, which was and still is a great weapon of another world champion – Kramnik. 4...dxc4 5.Bg2 a6!? The idea of this line is to save the pawn by any means. 6.Ne5. 6.0-0 is another main line, which is a real pawn sacrifice. 6...c5 7.Na3. 7.Be3 Nd5 8.dxc5 Was played recently by other Catalan players, Bacrot and Wang Yue. 7...cxd4 8.Naxc4 Bc5. 8...Ra7 is another possibility, with the idea b6. I remember it from the game Wang Yue-Van Wely from Corus 2009, where black equalised without problems. But I guess Anand had an improvement there. 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bd2 Nd5 11.Rc1 Nd7 12.Nd3 Ba7 So far both players played logical moves, but from here White has a big and wide choice. 13.Ba5. A questionable decision. 13.Qb3!? Made sense, since later on Black was threatening b6, attacking the bishop on a5. But perhaps Anand has analyzed this position deeply and came to conclusion that it is better to include Ba5 Qe7. If 13...Nc5 then simple 14.Nxc5 Bxc5 15.Ne5 and White keeps up the pressure. 13...Qe7 14.Qb3 Rb8. Preparing b6. Now white had a big choice and I am afraid Anand chose not the best move, though later it worked out well for him. After 14...b6 White has 15.Bb4 Nc5 16.Qa3 Bb7 17.Bxd5! Bxd5 18.Nxb6! Bxb6 19.Bxc5 Bxc5 20.Rxc5 With some pressure and edge. 15.Qa3?! As I said, later it worked out well for Anand. At the time I doubted the objective evaluation of the move, but after seeing the whole game I was wondering – maybe it was pure genius, from a psychological point of view!? 15.Rfd1! Is the move I like most. Now Black doesn't have a very useful move, since 15...b6 falls into 16.Bb4! Nc5 17.Qa3 Bb7  18.Bxd5! Bxd5 19.Nxb6! Bxb6 20.Rxc5! Bxc5 21.Bxc5 Qb7 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Qb4 With advantage for White. 15...Qxa3 16.bxa3 N7f6?! logical, but the more logical 16...Nc5! was the move. I think White would have to fight for the draw, and I am curious what Anand wanted to play here and what Topalov was afraid of. 17.Nce5! Now I liked the white position again, though I think he has no objective advantage. 17...Re8! preparing b6 and Bd7. 17...b6 18.Bb4!; 17...Bd7 18.Nxd7 Nxd7 19.Bxd5 exd5 20.Rc7+/=. 18.Rc2. 18.g4!? looks interesting too. 18...b6?! objectively must be okay, but I think if there is no need to weaken the c6 square, then why to do it?! I prefer 18...Bd7! not weakening c6. Now the best white can do is 19.Nxd7 Nxd7 20.Rfc1 N7f6 21.Ne5 which should be around equal. White has two bishops and good pieces, while black has an extra pawn and a solid position with no weaknesses. 19.Bd2 Bb7 20.Rfc1. Stronger than the immedeate Nc6. In general Anand plays very well from now on, without forcing things too much, just improving the position, no caring that he is a pawn down. 20...Rbd8 21.f4 Bb8 22.a4 a5 23.Nc6 Now that White has made all the useful moves, it is time for this exchange. 23...Bxc6 24.Rxc6 h5?! A strange, impulsive and weakening move, although again, objectively it is not a mistake. 24...h6 would be played by a more patient defender. 25.R1c4 25.Bf3!? Immediately pointing at the h5 pawn. 25...Ne3? Now the real mistake comes. I think Topalov got tired of making moves without any idea. He wanted to force things. However there was another way... 25...Ng4! Fits perfectly with h5. If Topalov could have played it, I would have to give h5 an exclamation mark! 26.Bf3 e5! 27.fxe5 Nxe5 28.Nxe5 Bxe5 29.Kf1 should be aroung equal, with Black having no problems after 29...h4! 26.Bxe3 dxe3 27.Bf3!? 27.Rxb6 Was of course another option, but Anand is trying to confuse Topalov, offering him a difficult choice between giving up the h5 and b6 pawn. And he also perhaps didn't like 27...e5!? 27...g6? 27...Nd7 was I think better, but White had a pleasant advantage there as well. Still it was way better than what Topalov go in the game. 28.Bxh5 e5! being the idea. 28.Rxb6. Now there is no e5, and the a5 pawn is extremely weak. 28...Ba7 28...Re7 Trying to defend a5 with Bc7 was better. Surprisingly White is unable to win the pawn by force, but obviously he still has a big advantage. 29.Rb3! So that Topalov can forget about any Rxd3. 29...Rd4 30.Rc7 Bb8 31.Rc5! The pawn on a4 is untouchable due to Bc6 and White wins the a5 pawn. 31...Bd6 32.Rxa5 Rc8. Black is getting active, but it won't give him anything. White has a good protection of the key d3 and e2 squares and the a-pawn should decide the game in White's favour. 33.Kg2. I love these moves. I can imagine how disgusted Topalov must be with his position now. 33...Rc2 34.a3. The mean World Champion, who already gave the pawn once in the opening, doesn't want to give it now anymore. And he is right... this will be the decisive pawn! 34...Ra2?! 34...Nd5 It was necessary to still try to complicate the matter a bit, but White is winning anyway. 35.Nb4! All suporters of Anand were now very relieved when they saw the black king standing on g8, not g7... 35...Bxb4 35...Rxa3 36.Rxa3 Bxb4 37.Ra8+! is what I meant with my previous comment. 36.axb4 Nd5 37.b5! The a4 pawn doesn't matter anymore, while it's colleague runs! 37...Raxa4 38.Rxa4 Rxa4 39.Bxd5! Killing the knight. The arising ending is the most winning rook ending I ever saw in my life. 39...exd5 40.b6 Ra8 41.b7 At the end the decisive factor is – the a-pawn! The little a-pawn that was standing on a2 at the beginning of the game. 41...Rb8 42.Kf3 d4 43.Ke4 A great comeback by the World Champion, though I must add that it was obviously not without help from Topalov. 1-0.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6281


http://www.chessbase.com/news/2010/sofia/games/giri02.htm

Topalov Draws First Blood

Topalov,V (2805) - Anand,V (2787) [D86]
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 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Qd2 e5 13.Bh6 cxd4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.cxd4 exd4 16.Rac1 Qd6 17.f4 f6 18.f5 Qe5 19.Nf4 g5 20.Nh5+ Kg8 21.h4 h6 22.hxg5 hxg5 23.Rf3 [Everything was looking dangerous, but basically okay for Black. The only defense looked like 23...Bd7 followed by Rg3 and then maybe Kf7. However Anand blunders. - Chessbase] 23...Kf7?? 24.Nxf6! 24...Kxf6 25.Rh3 Rg8 26.Rh6+ Kf7 27.Rh7+ Ke8 28.Rcc7 Kd8 29.Bb5 Qxe4 30.Rxc8+ 1-0

http://www.chessbase.com/news/2010/sofia/games/sofia01.htm

Physics & Chess

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