Botvinnik only won two serious matches in his life (1958, 1961)

1933 Salo Flohr, Tied +2−2=8

1937 Grigory Levenfish, Tied +5−5=3

(1940 Vyacheslav Ragozin, Won +5 -0 =7, Exhibition Match)

1951 David Bronstein, Tied +5−5=14, WC Match

1954 Vasily Smyslov, Tied +7−7=10, WC Match

1957 Vasily Smyslov, Lost +3−6=13, WC Match

1958 Vasily Smyslov, Won +7−5=11, WC Match

1960 Mikhail Tal, Lost +2−6=13, WC Match

1961 Mikhail Tal, Won +10−5=6, WC Match

1963 Tigran Petrosian, Lost +2−5=14, WC Match

Karjakin will be the challenger

A really bad tournament for Topalov.  Everybody else did well.  In the last round, Karjakin and Caruana were both at 7.5 and faced each other.  An exciting finish.

Major 2015 Tournaments

Carlsen won Wijk aan Zee.

Grand Prix:  Tomashevsky won Tbilisi.  Jakovenko, Nakamura and Caruana tied for 1st at Khanty-Mansiysk.  Taking into account all four GP tournaments, the two Candidates slots went to Caruana and Nakamura.

Nakamura won the US Championship.

Topalov won Norway Chess (Carlsen amazingly ended up at -2).

Yangyi Yu won the 50th Capablanca Memorial, 1.5 points ahead of Eljanov and Andreikin.

Caruana won Dortmund.

So won Bilbao on tiebreak over Giri.

Aronian won Sinquefield.

Some 2014 Tournament Results

So won the Capablanca Memorial by 1 point over Lazaro Bruzon.  (Top seed Ivanchuk ended up in last place.)

US Championship:  Defending champion Gata Kamsky tied for first with Lenderman and Akobian.  (Defending women's champion Irina Krush tied for first with long-time rival Anna Zatonskih and WGM Abrahamyan.)

Caruana won Dortmund.

Anand won Bilbao.

Caruana won the Sinquefield cup with an amazing run of 7 wins in a row and 3 draws, ending 3 points ahead of world champion Carlsen.

Karjakin repeated his win (again a 1/2 point ahead of Carlsen) at Norway Chess.

ETA Grand Prix results:  Caruana and Gelfand tied for 1st at Baku.  Andreikin won Tashkent.

Carlsen Retains his Title

Game 2 (Carlsen wins)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. 0-0 d6 6. Re1 0-0 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. h3 Re8 9. Nbd2 Nd7 10. Nc4 Bb6 11. a4 a5 12. Nxb6 cxb6 13. d4 Qc7 14. Ra3 Nf8 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Nh4 Rd8 17. Qh5 f6 18. Nf5 Be6 19. Rg3 Ng6 20. h4 Bxf5 21. exf5 Nf4 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Rc3 c5 24. Re6 Rab8 25. Rc4 Qd7 26. Kh2 Rf8 27. Rce4 Rb7 28. Qe2 b5 29. b3 bxa4 30. bxa4 Rb4 31. Re7 Qd6 32. Qf3 Rxe4 33. Qxe4 f3+ 34. g3 h5 35. Qb7 1–0

Game 3 (Anand wins)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 0-0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. c5 c6 8. Bd3 b6 9. b4 a5 10. a3 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Rxa6 12. b5 cxb5 13. c6 Qc8 14. c7 b4 15. Nb5 a4 16. Rc1 Ne4 17. Ng5 Ndf6 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. f3 Ra5 20. fxe4 Rxb5 21. Qxa4 Ra5 22. Qc6 bxa3 23. exd5 Rxd5 24. Qxb6 Qd7 25. 0-0 Rc8 26. Rc6 g5 27. Bg3 Bb4 28. Ra1 Ba5 29. Qa6 Bxc7 30. Qc4 e5 31. Bxe5 Rxe5 32. dxe5 Qe7 33. e6 Kf8 34. Rc1 1–0  

Game 6 (Carlsen wins)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Qd3 Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bf4 Bxc3+ 12. bxc3 Kc7 13. h4 b6 14. h5 h6 15. 0-0-0 Bb7 16. Rd3 c5 17. Rg3 Rag8 18. Bd3 Nf8 19. Be3 g6 20. hxg6 Nxg6 21. Rh5 Bc6 22. Bc2 Kb7 23. Rg4 a5 24. Bd1 Rd8 25. Bc2 Rdg8 26. Kd2 a4 27. Ke2 a3 28. f3 Rd8 29. Ke1 Rd7 30. Bc1 Ra8 31. Ke2 Ba4 32. Be4+ Bc6 33. Bxg6 fxg6 34. Rxg6 Ba4 35. Rxe6 Rd1 36. Bxa3 Ra1 37. Ke3 Bc2 38. Re7+ 1–0

Game 11 (Carlsen wins)
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. h3 Bd7 10. Nc3 h6 11. b3 Kc8 12. Bb2 c5 13. Rad1 b6 14. Rfe1 Be6 15. Nd5 g5 16. c4 Kb7 17. Kh2 a5 18. a4 Ne7 19. g4 Ng6 20. Kg3 Be7 21. Nd2 Rhd8 22. Ne4 Bf8 23. Nef6 b5 24. Bc3 bxa4 25. bxa4 Kc6 26. Kf3 Rdb8 27. Ke4 Rb4 28. Bxb4 cxb4 29. Nh5 Kb7 30. f4 gxf4 31. Nhxf4 Nxf4 32. Nxf4 Bxc4 33. Rd7 Ra6 34. Nd5 Rc6 35. Rxf7 Bc5 36. Rxc7+ Rxc7 37. Nxc7 Kc6 38. Nb5 Bxb5 39. axb5+ Kxb5 40. e6 b3 41. Kd3 Be7 42. h4 a4 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 a3 45. Kc3 1–0

Aronian wins Wijk aan Zee by 1.5

http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/standings/year/2014/group/1

The king is dead. Long live the king.

Anand played a solid game while keeping tension but started making mistakes. A blunder by each player led to an endgame with an advantage for Carlsen, who tried to win but forced a draw when things got complicated.

Final score: 6 1/2 - 3 1/2

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. c4 Nf6 8. Bg5 e6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. 0-0 Bc6 11. Qd3 0-0 12. Nd4 Rc8 13. b3 Qc7 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Rac1 h6 16. Be3 Nd7 17. Bd4 Rfd8 18. h3 Qc7 19. Rfd1 Qa5 20. Qd2 Kf8 21. Qb2 Kg8 22. a4 Qh5 23. Ne2 Bf6 24. Rc3 Bxd4 25. Rxd4 Qe5 26. Qd2 Nf6 27. Re3 Rd7 28. a5 Qg5 29. e5 Ne8 30. exd6 Rc6 31. f4 Qd8 32. Red3 Rcxd6 33. Rxd6 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Qxd6 35. Qxd6 Nxd6 36. Kf2 Kf8 37. Ke3 Ke7 38. Kd4 Kd7 39. Kc5 Kc7 40. Nc3 Nf5 41. Ne4 Ne3 42. g3 f5 43. Nd6 g5 44. Ne8+ Kd7 45. Nf6+ Ke7 46. Ng8+ Kf8 47. Nxh6 gxf4 48. gxf4 Kg7 49. Nxf5+ exf5 50. Kb6 Ng2 51. Kxb7 Nxf4 52. Kxa6 Ne6 53. Kb6 f4 54. a6 f3 55. a7 f2 56. a8=Q f1=Q 57. Qd5 Qe1 58. Qd6 Qe3+ 59. Ka6 Nc5+ 60. Kb5 Nxb3 61. Qc7+ Kh6 62. Qb6+ Qxb6+ 63. Kxb6 Kh5 64. h4 Kxh4 65. c5 Nxc5 ½–½

Anand comes out with all guns blazing

Unfortunately for him, Carlsen found all the right defensive moves to hold the draw, and in the end Anand blundered and Carlsen actually picked up the full point.  Carlsen now needs only one draw in the remaining three games to clinch the title.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 c4 9. Ne2 Nc6 10. g4 0-0 11. Bg2 Na5 12. 0-0 Nb3 13. Ra2 b5 14. Ng3 a5 15. g5 Ne8 16. e4 Nxc1 17. Qxc1 Ra6 18. e5 Nc7 19. f4 b4 20. axb4 axb4 21. Rxa6 Nxa6 22. f5 b3 23. Qf4 Nc7 24. f6 g6 25. Qh4 Ne8 26. Qh6 b2 27. Rf4 b1=Q+ 28. Nf1?? Qe1 0–1

40 minutes? Are they kidding?? FORTY MINUTES?!

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 0-0 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Re8 11. c3 Rxe1 12. Qxe1 Ne8 13. Bf4 d5 14. Bd3 g6 15. Nd2 Ng7 16. Qe2 c6 17. Re1 Bf5 18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. Nf3 Ng7 20. Be5 Ne6 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Ne5 Re8 23. Ng4 Qd8 24. Qe5 Ng7 25. Qxe8+ Nxe8 26. Rxe8+ Qxe8 27. Nf6+ Kf8 28. Nxe8 Kxe8 29. f4 f5 30. Kf2 b5 31. b4 Kf7 32. h3 h6 33. h4 h5 ½–½

Anand can allow only 1 point in the remaining four games.  This match is over.

Looks like Anand is going to go out with a whimper

C'mon, man, FIGHT!  As Chessbase points out, there is a football adage in Brazil that states that losing by ten goals or by a thousand is the same. If you have nothing to lose (and in a match this short, you have nothing to lose), then the score stops being a factor in your decision making.  Play something sharp, lose again, doesn't matter.  But don't draw like this!  Even though I didn't think Anand could pull it off (Elo rated #8 against Carlsen is too big a gap, not unlike Short's #10 against Kasparov in 1993), but I was rooting for some good chess.  This is just pathetic.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nbd2 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. Nf1 Nd7 9. Ng3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 g6 11. Be3 Qe7 12. 0-0-0 0-0-0 13. Ne2 Rhe8 14. Kb1 b6 15. h4 Kb7 16. h5 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 Nc5 18. hxg6 hxg6 19. g3 a5 20. Rh7 Rh8 21. Rdh1 Rxh7 22. Rxh7 Qf6 23. f4 Rh8 24. Rxh8 Qxh8 25. fxe5 Qxe5 26. Qf3 f5 27. exf5 gxf5 28. c3 Ne6 29. Kc2 Ng5 30. Qf2 Ne6 31. Qf3 Ng5 32. Qf2 Ne6 ½–½

Carlsen Wins Again

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 0-0 6. 0-0 Re8 7. Re1 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bb3 d6 10. Bg5 Be6 11. Nbd2 h6 12. Bh4 Bxb3 13. axb3 Nb8 14. h3 Nbd7 15. Nh2 Qe7 16. Ndf1 Bb6 17. Ne3 Qe6 18. b4 a5 19. bxa5 Bxa5 20. Nhg4 Bb6 21. Bxf6 Nxf6 22. Nxf6+ Qxf6 23. Qg4 Bxe3 24. fxe3 Qe7 25. Rf1 c5 26. Kh2 c4 27. d4 Rxa1 28. Rxa1 Qb7 29. Rd1 Qc6 30. Qf5 exd4 31. Rxd4 Re5 32. Qf3 Qc7 33. Kh1 Qe7 34. Qg4 Kh7 35. Qf4 g6 36. Kh2 Kg7 37. Qf3 Re6 38. Qg3 Rxe4 39. Qxd6 Rxe3 40. Qxe7 Rxe7 41. Rd5 Rb7 42. Rd6 f6 43. h4 Kf7 44. h5 gxh5 45. Rd5 Kg6 46. Kg3 Rb6 47. Rc5 f5 48. Kh4 Re6 49. Rxb5 Re4+ 50. Kh3 Kg5 51. Rb8 h4 52. Rg8+ Kh5 53. Rf8 Rf4 54. Rc8 Rg4 55. Rf8 Rg3+ 56. Kh2 Kg5 57. Rg8+ Kf4 58. Rc8 Ke3 59. Rxc4 f4 60. Ra4? (b4!) h3 61. gxh3 Rg6 62. c4 f3 63. Ra3+ Ke2 64. b4 f2 65. Ra2+ Kf3 66. Ra3+ Kf4 67. Ra8 Rg1 0–1

Carlsen Draws First Blood

1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 c5 7. a3 Ba5 8. Nf3 Nf6 9. Be3 Nc6 10. Qd3 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Ng4 12. 0-0-0 Nxe3 13. fxe3 Bc7 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Qxd8+ Bxd8 16. Be2 Ke7 17. Bf3 Bd7 18. Ne4 Bb6 19. c5 f5 20. cxb6 fxe4 21. b7 Rab8 22. Bxe4 Rxb7 23. Rhf1 Rb5 24. Rf4 g5 25. Rf3 h5 26. Rdf1 Be8 27. Bc2 Rc5 28. Rf6 h4 29. e4 a5 30. Kd2 Rb5 31. b3 Bh5 32. Kc3 Rc5+ 33. Kb2 Rd8 34. R1f2 Rd4 35. Rh6 Bd1 36. Bb1 Rb5 37. Kc3 c5 38. Rb2 e5 39. Rg6 a4 40. Rxg5 Rxb3+ 41. Rxb3 Bxb3 42. Rxe5+ Kd6 43. Rh5 Rd1 44. e5+ Kd5 45. Bh7 Rc1+? (Ra1!) 46. Kb2 Rg1 47. Bg8+ Kc6 48. Rh6+ Kd7 49. Bxb3 axb3 50. Kxb3 Rxg2 51. Rxh4 Ke6? (Re2!) 52. a4 Kxe5 53. a5 Kd6 54. Rh7 Kd5 55. a6 c4+ 56. Kc3 Ra2 57. a7 Kc5 58. h4 1–0

Anand's turn to save the draw

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. h3 Bd7 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Nc3 Kc8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Bxe7 Nxe7 14. Rd2 c5 15. Rad1 Be6 16. Ne1 Ng6 17. Nd3 b6 18. Ne2 Bxa2 19. b3 c4 20. Ndc1 cxb3 21. cxb3 Bb1 22. f4 Kb7 23. Nc3 Bf5 24. g4 Bc8 25. Nd3 h5 26. f5 Ne7 27. Nb5 hxg4 28. hxg4 Rh4 29. Nf2 Nc6 30. Rc2 a5 31. Rc4 g6 32. Rdc1 Bd7 33. e6 fxe6 34. fxe6 Be8 35. Ne4 Rxg4+ 36. Kf2 Rf4+ 37. Ke3 Rf8 38. Nd4 Nxd4 39. Rxc7+ Ka6 40. Kxd4 Rd8+ 41. Kc3 Rf3+ 42. Kb2 Re3 43. Rc8 Rdd3 44. Ra8+ Kb7 45. Rxe8 Rxe4 46. e7 Rg3 47. Rc3 Re2+ 48. Rc2 Ree3 49. Ka2 g5 50. Rd2 Re5 51. Rd7+ Kc6 52. Red8 Rge3 53. Rd6+ Kb7 54. R8d7+ Ka6 55. Rd5 Re2+ 56. Ka3 Re6 57. Rd8 g4 58. Rg5 Rxe7 59. Ra8+ Kb7 60. Rag8 a4 61. Rxg4 axb3 62. R8g7 Ka6 63. Rxe7 Rxe7 64. Kxb3 ½–½

Chessbase:  A slip from Anand allowed Carlsen to snatch a poisoned pawn, but precise calculation allowed Carlsen to keep it and put the pressure on. Anand survived through cunning and perseverance. 

Additional commentary here.

Finally an exciting game

A draw again, but a well-fought one this time.

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. c4 dxc4 4. Qa4+ Nc6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. Nc3 e5 7. Qxc4 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. d3 h6 10. Bd2 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne4 c6 13. Bb4 Be6 14. Qc1 Bd5 15. a4 b6 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. a5 Rab8 18. Re1 Rfc8 19. axb6 axb6 20. Qf4 Rd8 21. h4 Kh7 22. Nd2 Be5 23. Qg4 h5 24. Qh3 Be6 25. Qh1 c5 26. Ne4 Kg7 27. Ng5 b5 28. e3 dxe3 29. Rxe3 Bd4 30. Re2 c4 31. Nxe6+ fxe6 32. Be4 cxd3 33. Rd2 Qb4 34. Rad1 Bxb2 35. Qf3 Bf6 36. Rxd3 Rxd3 37. Rxd3 Rd8 38. Rxd8 Bxd8 39. Bd3 Qd4 40. Bxb5 Qf6 41. Qb7+ Be7 42. Kg2 g5 43. hxg5 Qxg5 44. Bc4 h4 45. Qc7 hxg3 46. Qxg3 e5 47. Kf3 Qxg3+ 48. fxg3 Bc5 49. Ke4 Bd4 50. Kf5 Bf2 51. Kxe5 Bxg3+ 1/2-1/2

ChessBase:  Anand built a serious advantage and seemed poised to win.  Had he played 29…Bxb2 it might have been, but the moment passed and great defense by the Norwegian challenger saved the draw.

An even shorter draw

More moves, but just about an hour at the board (time control was 4 hours for 40 moves).

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Ne5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nd7 11. f4 Bb4+ 12. c3 Be7 13. Bd2 Ngf6 14. O-O-O O-O 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Nxe5 17. fxe5 Qd5 18. Qxd5 cxd5 19. h5 b5 20. Rh3 a5 21. Rf1 Rac8 22. Rg3 Kh7 23. Rgf3 Kg8 24. Rg3 Kh7 25. Rgf3 Kg8 1/2-1/2

Seriously?

1. f3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. g2 g7 4. d4 c6 5. 0-0 f6 6. b3 0-0 7. b2 f5 8. c4 bd7 9. c3 dxc4 10. bxc4 b6 11. c5 c4 12. c1 d5 13. b3 a5 14. a3 c4 15. b3 a5 16. a3 c4 1/2-1/2

These guys are killing chess. A 16 move draw? WTF?

Some 2013 Tournament Results

Wijk aan Zee was won by Magnus Carlsen with 10/13, tying Kasparov's record from 1999.

The Capablanca Memorial was won by Zoltan Almasi in his first appearance with 6.5/10.

The US Championship was won by Gata Kamsky on tiebreak.

Dortmund was won by Michael Adams.

Bilbao was won by Levon Aronian.

The inaugural Sinquefield Cup was won by Magnus Carlsen.

The inaugural Norway Chess was won by Sergey Karjakin.

Email from a reader

I thought y'all might be interested in the documentary I’m making about New Orleans chessmaster Jude Acers who has been playing $5 games in the French Quarter at his "World Chess Table" since 1981.

In 1964 a 20-year old Acers entertained a 21-year old Bobby Fischer in Baton Rouge in New Orleans (where he played  Fischer to a draw at a simultaneous tournament), shortly after Fischer's 11-0 run at the U.S. Chess Championship; in 1968 Acers lived in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district and played pick-up basketball with The Doors and counted Janis Joplin among his acquaintances when he wasn't competing against top players at the Mechanics' Chess Club; Jude's 1970 win over U.S. Champion Walter Browne was voted a “Top Ten” theory game in the world for 1970 by a panel of six grandmasters and published in Chess Informant; Acers has been in the Guinness Book of World Records twice for simultaneous exhibitions and today Fodor’s 2013 New Orleans guidebook sends tourists right to Jude's table. Jude has also logged thousands of miles across the country via Greyhound bus giving chess exhibitions in prisons and malls. He's a great popularizer of the game.

We have already spent extensive time at Acers' table interviewing him at length when he's not playing and they're also developing storylines about people in Jude's orbit--a cast that looks remarkably like New Orleans.

An anonymous benefactor in recent years has sent Jude to compete in the FIDE World Senior Chess Championship held annually in Europe and the documentary team has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise enough funds to join Acers in Croatia in November to cover Jude as he seeks to become the World Senior Chess Champion.

Here's a link to our Kickstarter campaign where you can learn more about Jude and our project. I hope you give it a look and don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Regards,
Derek Bridges

Brooklyn Castle

Wanted to make sure you knew about the exciting, new film on chess and its place in schools, Brooklyn Castle (www.brooklyncastle.com). The film follows students from the best junior high chess team in the country, Brooklyn's I.S. 318, a school where 70% of the students come from families below the poverty line. Teachers, students and parents are faced with incredibly difficult decisions when budgets are slashed, threatening the existence of the team. You can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFzUYRC3_H8&feature=player_embedded

The film hits theaters today. You can find out more about Brooklyn Castle at:

• Twitter.com/brooklyn_castle

• Facebook.com/brooklyncastle

• YouTube.com/brooklyncastlefilm

 

Some 2012 Tournament Results

Aronian wins Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel) with 9/13 (January)
Ivanchuk wins Capablanca Memorial for the sixth time with 6.5/10 (May)
Nakamura wins US Championship with 8.5/11 (May)
Karjakin and Caruana tie for first at Dortmund with 6/9 (July)
Karlsen wins Bilbao again on tiebreaker over Caruana (October)

Anand Wins (Yawn)

What a monumentally boring match, reinforcing my continuing lack of interest in maintaining this blog.

Game 1 - 24 move draw
Game 2 - 25 move draw

Game 3 (Draw)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 cxd5 11.exd5 N8d7 12.h5 Nf6 13.hxg6 fxg6 14.O-O-O Bd7 15.Kb1 Rc8 16.Ka1 e4 17.Bd4 Na4 18.Nge2 Qa5 19.Nxe4 Qxd2 20.Nxf6+ Rxf6 21.Rxd2 Rf5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.d6 Rfc5 24.Rd1 a5 25.Rh4 Rc2 26.b3 Nb2 27.Rb1 Nd3 28.Nd4 Rd2 29.Bxd3 Rxd3 30.Re1 Rd2 31.Kb1 Bf5+ 32.Nxf5+ gxf5 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Rc7 Re8 35.Rh1 Ree2 36.d7 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Rxa2 ½–½

Game 4 (Draw)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.b3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.O-O Bd6 10.Qc2 e5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.e4 exd4 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Nf6 15.h3 Bd7 16.Rad1 Re8 17.Nxd4 Rc8 18.Qb1 h6 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Bxf5 Rc5 21.Rfe1 Rxd5 22.Bc3 Rxe1+ 23.Rxe1 Bc5 24.Qc2 Bd4 25.Bxd4 Rxd4 26.Qc8 g6 27.Bg4 h5 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8 29.Bf3 b6 30.Rc1 Rd6 31.Kf1 a5 32.Ke2 Nd5 33.g3 Ne7 34.Be4 Kg7 ½–½

Game 5 - 27 move draw
Game 6 - 29 move draw

Game 7 (Gelfand Wins)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.c5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 b6 8.cxb6 Nxb6 9.Bd2 c5 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.exd4 Bd6 12.Bg5 O-O 13.Bd3 h6 14.Bh4 Bb7 15.O-O Qb8 16.Bg3 Rc8 17.Qe2 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Qd6 19.Rc2 Nbd7 20.Rfc1 Rab8 21.Na4 Ne4 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.Qc2 g5 24.Qc7 Qxc7 25.Rxc7 f6 26.Bxe4 dxe4 27.Nd2 f5 28.Nc4 Nf6 29.Nc5 Nd5 30.Ra7 Nb4 31.Ne5 Nc2 32.Nc6 Rxb2 33.Rc7 Rb1+ 34.Kh2 e3 35.Rxc8+ Kh7 36.Rc7+ Kh8 37.Ne5 e2 38.Nxe6 1–0

Game 8 (Anand wins shortest decisive game in WC history)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.e4 Bg7 6.Ne2 O-O 7.Nec3 Nh5 8.Bg5 Bf6 9.Bxf6 exf6 10.Qd2 f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.g4 Re8+ 13.Kd1 Bxb1 14.Rxb1 Qf6 15.gxh5 Qxf3+ 16.Kc2 Qxh1 17.Qf2! 1–0

Game 9 (Draw)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.O-O dxc4 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.exd4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.Bd3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Qc7 15.c4 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Rfe8 17.Rfd1 h6 18.Bh4 Qd6 19.c5 bxc5 20.dxc5 Rxc5 21.Bh7+ Kxh7 22.Rxd6 Rxc1+ 23.Rd1 Rec8 24.h3 Ne5 25.Qe2 Ng6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28.Kh2 Rc7 29.Qb2 Kg7 30.a4 Ne7 31.a5 Nd5 32.a6 Kh7 33.Qd4 f5 34.f4 Rd7 35.Kg3 Kg6 36.Qh8 Nf6 37.Qb8 h5 38.Kh4 Kh6 39.Qb2 Kg6 40.Qc3 Ne4 41.Qc8 Nf6 42.Qb8 Re7 43.g4 hxg4 44.hxg4 fxg4 45.Qe5 Ng8 46.Qg5+ Kh7 47.Qxg4 f6 48.Qg2 Kh8 49.Qe4 Kg7 ½–½

Game 10 - 25 move draw
Game 11 - 24 move draw
Game 12 - 22 move draw

Anand won the tiebreak 1-0 with 3 draws.

Carlsen wins Bilbao Masters

Beats Ivanchuk in 2-game speed chess tiebreak match.

Svidler wins world cup

It was Svidler over Grischuk in the final by 1-0 with 3 draws.  Ivanchuk clinched third place.  All three advance to the next stage of the next world championship (2014?).

Kramnik wins Dortmund

Anand-Gelfand 2012

Gelfand won game 6 against Grischuk, to win the match 3.5-2.5 and earn the right to face Anand next year.

Alekhine-Capablanca 1927
Tal-Botvinnik 1960
Fischer-Spassky 1972
Kasparov-Karpov 1985
Anand-Gelfand 2012

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Ivanchuk shares first at Capablanca Memorial

with Le, who now joins the 2700 club.

Candidates Semi-Finals Results

Gelfand over Kamsky (on tiebreak)
Grischuk over Kramnik (on tiebreak)

Does it really matter now?  Neither Gelfand nor Grischuk can beat Anand in a WC match.

Candidates Quarter-Final Results

Kamsky over Topalov
Gelfand over Memadyarov
Grischuk over Aronian (on tiebreak)
Kramnik over Radjabov (on tiebreak)

Kamsky US Champion

Kamsky beat Schulman in the tiebreak.
Anna Zatonskih is the women's champion.

Nakamura wins Wijk aan Zee

US GM Hikaru Nakamura upset 1-4 seeds to win his first Super-GM tournament.

2011 Rating List

Rank Name Title Nation Rating Gms Born

 1 Carlsen, Magnus  g  NOR  2814  17  1990
 2 Anand, Viswanathan  g  IND  2810  17  1969
 3 Aronian, Levon  g  ARM  2805  9  1982
 4 Kramnik, Vladimir  g  RUS  2784  16  1975
 5 Karjakin, Sergey  g  RUS  2776  20  1990
 6 Topalov, Veselin  g  BUL  2775  10  1975
 7 Grischuk, Alexander  g  RUS  2773  20  1983
 8 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  g  AZE  2772  9  1985
 9 Ivanchuk, Vassily  g  UKR  2764  0  1969
 10 Nakamura, Hikaru  g  USA  2751  16  1987
 11 Ponomariov, Ruslan  g  UKR  2744  0  1983
 11 Radjabov, Teimour  g  AZE  2744  0  1987

Rating inflation continues apace as the 2700 Club swells to 39 members.