Linares Round 1

The first half of the Linares tournament isn't in Linares at all this year. It's taking place in Morelia, Mexico, February 18-26.

The players are:
Veselin Topalov (BUL) 2812 - 2
Peter Svidler (RUS) 2765 - 4
Levon Aronian (ARM) 2752 - 5
Peter Leko (HUN) 2740 - 7
Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) - 2729 - 8
Ettienne Bacrot (FRA) - 2717 - 13
Teimour Radjabov (AZE) - 2700 - 19
Francisco Vallejo (ESP) - 2650 - 54
Only Anand and Kramnik are missing from the world's top 8 players.

Round 1 was today.

Svidler - Topalov
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.Bg5+ Ke8 12.Rad1 Bd7 13.Nd4 h6 14.Be3 h5 15.f4 h4 16.f5 Nxe5 17.f6 Rh5 18.Ne4 g6 19.Bf4 c5 20.Nf3 Nxf3+ 21.Rxf3 Be6 22.Rfd3 c4 23.R3d2 c6 24.Ng5 Bc5+ 25.Kh2 Bd5 26.Re2+ Kf8 27.Rde1 b5 28.c3 a5 29.a3 Rc8 30.g4 hxg3+ 31.Kxg3 Be6 32.h4 Kg8 33.Re5 Bf8 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Rd1 Rh7 36.Rxe6 Rb7 37.Re4 Kf7 38.Bg5 Re8 39.Rxe8 Kxe8 40.Kg4 Rh7 41.Re1+ Kd7 42.a4 bxa4 43.Re5 c5 44.Bf4 Rh8 45.Bg3 Bh6 46.Re7+ Kc6 47.Bf4 Bxf4 48.Kxf4 Rh5 49.Re5 Rxh4+ 50.Kg5 Rh5+ 51.Kxg6 Rxe5 52.f7 Re6+ 53.Kg5 Re5+ 54.Kg4 Re4+ 55.Kg3 Re3+ 56.Kf2 a3 57.f8Q axb2 58.Qc8+ Kb5 59.Qb7+ Ka4 60.Kxe3 Ka3 61.Qb5 a4 62.Qxc5+ Kb3 63.Qb4+ Kc2 64.Qxa4+ Kxc3 65.Qa5+ Kc2 66.Qf5+ Kc1 67.Qf1+ 1-0

Bacrot - Ivanchuk
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nc3 Bb7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bf4 d5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Na6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Rc1 Ne4 13.h4 Nd6 14.a4 Nc4 15.Ne5 Na5 16.Bh3 Qe8 17.h5 Nc6 18.h6 g5 19.e4 dxe4 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Qg4 Qe7 23.Rxc6 f5 24.Qh5 Kh8 25.d5 exd5 26.Nd4 Bf6 27.Nxf5 Qe8 28.Qxe8 Raxe8 29.Rd1 Nb4 30.Rc7 a5 31.Ng7 Re7 32.Rxe7 Bxe7 33.Ne6 Rc8 34.Nf4 Rd8 35.Be6 Bg5 36.Kf1 Rd6 37.Bf5 Bxf4 38.gxf4 Rxh6 39.Ke2 Rf6 40.Bg4 Rxf4 41.Rg1 Nd3 42.Be6 Rxf2+ 43.Ke3 Rf8 44.Bxd5 Nb4 45.Bxe4 Rd8 46.Rc1 h5 47.Kf4 Nd3+ 48.Bxd3 Rxd3 49.Kg5 Kg7 50.Rc7+ Kf8 51.Kxh5 Ke8 52.Kg5 Rd4 53.b3 Kd8 54.Rc6 Rb4 55.Rc3 Ke7 56.Kf5 Kd6 57.Rd3+ Kc5 58.Ke5 b5 59.Rc3+ Kb6 60.Kd5 bxa4 61.bxa4 Rxa4 62.Rb3+ Ka6 63.Kc5 Rh4 64.Rb6+ Ka7 65.Rg6 a4 66.Kb5 1/2-1/2

Aronian - Radjabov
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.d5 Nd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.exf5 Nf6 14.Nde4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxf5 16.Bd3 g4 17.0-0 Qe8 18.c5 Qg6 19.Re1 Nf7 20.Bh4 Rae8 21.Rc1 dxc5 22.Rxc5 Nd6 23.Qa4 Bxe4 24.Bxe4 Qh6 25.Bg3 Qd2 26.Rcc1 Re7 27.h4 Qxb2 28.Qd1 Qxa2 29.h5 Nxe4 30.Rxe4 Qa6 31.Qb3 Kh8 32.Rce1 Qb6 33.Rb4 Qc5 34.Rxb7 Ref7 35.Rb5 Qd6 36.Qc4 Rf5 37.Qxg4 Qh6 38.Rb8 Rxf2 39.Rxf8+ Rxf8 40.Rxe5 Qd6 41.Rf5 Qe7 42.Rxf8+ Bxf8 43.Bf2 h6 44.Qd4+ Kg8 45.Qc4 Qf7 46.Bxa7 Bg7 47.Be3 Kh8 48.Bd4 Bxd4+ 49.Qxd4+ Kh7 50.Qe5 Qg7 51.Qf5+ Kh8 52.Kh2 Qe7 53.Kh3 Qd6 54.Qf7 Qe5 55.g3 Qe4 56.Qf1 Kh7 57.Qd1 Qe5 58.Qf3 Kg7 59.Qg4+ Kh8 60.Qg6 Qxd5 61.Qxh6+ Kg8 62.Qg6+ Kh8 63.Qf6+ Kh7 64.Kh4 Qe4+ 65.g4 Qe1+ 66.Kg5 Qd2+ 67.Qf4 Qd8+ 68.Kf5 Qf8+ 69.Ke4 Qb4+ 70.Kf3 Qc3+ 71.Qe3 Qf6+ 72.Kg3 Qd6+ 73.Kh4 c5 74.g5 Qh2+ 75.Kg4 Qg2+ 76.Kf5 Qd5+ 77.Kf6 Qd6+ 78.Qe6 Qd4+ 79.Ke7 1-0

VallejoPons - Leko
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 Ne4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c5 9.Bd3 Qa5 10.Ne2 cxd4 11.cxd5 exd5 12.f3 Nxc3 13.Nxd4 Ne4+ 14.Ke2 f5 15.Be3 Nc6 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Rhc1 Rb8 18.Kd1 Rd8 19.Bd4 Be6 20.Rab1 Rxb1 21.Rxb1 c5 22.Rb5 Qxa3 23.Bb2 Qa2 24.Be2 Bd7 25.fxe4 Bxb5 26.Bxb5 Rb8 27.Bc6 Qxb2 28.Bxd5+ Kh8 29.Qxb2 Rxb2 30.exf5 Rb4 31.Kc2 Rd4 32.Bf7 Re4 33.e6 h5 34.Bxh5 Kg8 35.g4 Kf8 36.g5 Ke7 37.h3 a5 38.Bg4 a4 39.f6+ gxf6 40.g6 Kf8 0-1

Topalov and Anand win Wijk aan Zee

• Anand and Topalov tied for first 1.5 points ahead of Adams and Ivanchuk.
• Anand's rating passed 2800 for the first time.
• Nobody went through the tournament undefeated. Topalov lost to Kamsky; Anand lost to Adams.
• The best relative performance was Karjakin; the worst was Sokolov.
• Kamsky drew just one game, THANK YOU for the fighting chess. Unfortunately his score was +4 -8.

Wijk aan Zee Begins

This year's Wijk aan Zee (Corus) tournament started today.

The participants (Average rating 2716, Category 19):
Veselin Topalov 2801 - 2
Viswanathan Anand 2792 - 3
Levon Aronian 2752 - 5
Peter Leko 2740 - 7
Vassily Ivanchuk 2729 - 8
Boris Gelfand 2723 - 9
Etienne Bacrot 2717 - 12
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2709 - 15
Michael Adams 2707 - 17
Ivan Sokolov 2689 - 24
Gata Kamsky 2686 - 25
Sergey Tiviakov 2669 - 33
Sergey Karjakin 2660 - 42
Loek van Wely 2647 - 59

FIDE Candidate Match Pairings

As expected, Kasparov and Kramnik will not be participating in the FIDE candidate matches. They have been replaced by Shirov and Malakhov. Per the regulations, the pairings for round 1 are as follows:

Aronian - Carlsen
Leko - Gurevich
Ponomariov - Rublevsky
Gelfand - Kasimjanov
Bacrot - Kamsky
Grischuk - Malakhov
Polgar - Bareev
Shirov - Adams

Each match will consist of 6 games. There will be two rounds of matches, reducing these 16 players down to 4. The four finalists will join Topalov, Svidler, Anand and Morozevich in a FIDE world championship tournament next year.

Round 1 of the candidate matches is scheduled for October 2006 (assuming of course they can find sponsorship).

FIDE Rating List

1 Kasparov, Garry 2812 (retired)
2 Topalov, Veselin 2801 (the third player to break 2800 after Kasparov and Kramnik)
3 Anand, Viswanathan 2792
4 Svidler, Peter 2765
5 Aronian, Levon 2752
6 Kramnik, Vladimir 2741
7 Leko, Peter 2740
8 Ivanchuk, Vassily 2729
9 Gelfand, Boris 2723
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2723
11 Morozevich, Alexander 2721
12 Grischuk, Alexander 2717
Bacrot, Etienne 2717
14 Polgar, Judit 2711
15 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2709 (new member of the 2700 club)
Shirov, Alexei 2709
17 Adams, Michael 2707
18 Akopian, Vladimir 2704
19 Radjabov, Teimour 2700

(Nisipeanu fell off the 2700 list)

Two wins by Black

RMD-ALD, 12/23/2005 [B53]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Bd7 6.Qc4 {6.Bxc6 (B53 / 5-7) is the only move played with any regularity here.} a6 {6...Rc8, Uhlarova-Havlickova, Zilina 1997; 6...Nf6, Fisher-Croft, USA 1992} 7.Bxc6 {7.Ng5, Marabaoglu-Steinmann, Altenholz 1994} Bxc6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.O-O g6 10.Ng5 e6 11.f4 Qb6+ 12.Kh1 Ng4 13.Qe2 h5 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxe6? {I don't see the point.} fxe6 16.exf5 e5 -+ 17.a3 O-O-O 18.f6 Bh6 19.b4 Bxc1 20.Raxc1 Ne3 21.Rf2 Rdg8 22.Rg1 Nxg2 23.Rfxg2 Bxg2+ {23...Rxg2!} 24.Rxg2 Qc6 25.Ne4 Rxg2 26.Kxg2 d5 27.Ng5 Qxf6 28.h4 Qf4 29.Qe1Rg8 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 e4 32.Kf4 Kd7 33.Ke5 Rxg5+! {It's all over.} 34.hxg5 e3 35.g6 e2 36.g7 e1Q+ 37.Kf6 Qc3+ 38.Kg6 Qxg7+ 39.Kxg7 h4 0-1

ALD-RMD, 12/23/2005 [D06]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 h5 {Pointless; 5...e5 is relatively best.} 6.Bc4 Bd7 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bf4 {Creating a very classical looking center, but probably not best; 8.e5 seems better.} Bb4! 9.O-O {9.Bg5 keeps more of White's advantage.} Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxe4 11.Qd3 Bc6 12.Ne5= {12.Rfe1! Nd6 13.Rxe6+ fxe6 14.Qg6+ Nf7 15.Qxe6+ Qe7 16.Qc8+ Qd8 17.Bxf7+Kxf7 18.Ne5+ Ke8 19.Qxd8+ Kxd8 20.Nf7+ Ke7 21.Nxh8 +/-} Nd6 13.Nxc6 Nxc6 14.Rab1 Qf6 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Rxb7 O-O 17.Bb3 d5 18.Bc2 g6 19.Rfb1 Na5 20.R7b5 Nc4 21.Bb3? Na3! -/+ 22.Bc2 Nxb5 23.Rxb5 a6 24.Rb6 a5 25.Qb5 Qe7 26.Qb1 a4 27.Bxg6!? Qg5 {27...fxg6 28.Qxg6+ Qg7 29.Qxe6+ Qf7 held no dangers for Black, but my wife refused my attempt to complicate matters.} 28.Bc2 h4 29.h3 Kg7 30.Qe1 a3 31.c4 {Risky.} Rfb8 32.Rxb8 Rxb8 33.cxd5 Qxd5 34.Qe5+? {Trading queens leaves White with absolutely no hope.} Qxe5 35.dxe5 Kh6 36.f4 Rb2 37.Bb3 Kg6 0-1 {38.Bc4 Kf5 39.Kf1 Kxf4 40.Kg1 Kxe5}

Two games

I haven't posted any of the games between my and my wife in a while. Here's a couple of recent ones.

RMD-ALD, 10/23/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.a3 Bg4 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Qd7 10.Qe1 {10.Qd2, Mazziotti Irigoyen Gabriel 2139 - Martinez Daniel 2193, Buenos Aires 2001} Ne7 11.Nd5 Nexd5 12.exd5 e4 13.Nd4 exd3 14.Bxd3? Rae8? {14...Nxd5} 15.Bb5! Qe7 16.Bxe8 Rxe8 17.c4 Qxe3+ 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.Nb5 Rb3 {I don't know why I left the c7 pawn undisturbed for so many moves. - ALD} 20.Rf2 Ne4 21.Rf4 Nf6 22.Rb1 a6 23.Nc3 {23.Nxc7 +/-} Bh5 24.Rf2 Ng4 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Rd4 {26.Re1!} Bg6 27.Ne4?{27.Rc1} Re3! -/+ {Black handles the remainder of the game very well. - ALD} 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Rf1 Kg7 30.Rf2 Re1+ 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Bd3+ 33.Kf2 Bxc4 34.g3 Bd3 35.b3 Bf5 36.Kg2 Kf8 37.h3 Ke7 38.g4 Bc8 39.Kg3 c6 40.Kf4 Ng6+ 41.Kg3 cxd5 42.Rxd5 Be6 43.Rd3 Ne5 44.Rc3 Kd7 45.b4 b5 0-1 {My wife doesn't usually resign until the win is obvious, but in this case she decided she did not want to play on in this hopeless position. - ALD}

RMD-ALD, 12/11/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Ng5 O-O 6.Qf3 d6 7.Nc3 Nd4 {7...Re8, Egold-Dietzel, Verden 2002; 7...Bg4, Mueller-Friess, Hassloch 1997; 7...Bb4, Strasser-Brehm, Bad Duerkheim 1993} 8.Qd1 {8.Qg3, Thomas-Thomas, Sebnitz 1998} Bg4 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 Bh5 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Qd2 Bxf3 13.Rg1 Ng4 14.h3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Qh4+ 16.Qf2 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxh3 18.Kd2 Bg4 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Rae8 21.Kd3 c6 22.Rg3 Qh4 23.Qf4 Be2+? 24.Kxe2 Qxf4 25.exf4 Rxe4+ 26.Kd3 Rxf4 27.d5 c5 28.Re3 a6 29.Re7? b5! 30.Bb3 {forced} c4+ 31.Kc3 cxb3 32.axb3 Ra8 33.Rd7 Rf6 34.Rc7 g6 35.Kb4 Rf5 36.c4 bxc4 37.bxc4 Rf2 38.Rc6 a5+ 39.Kb5 Rb2+ 40.Ka4 Rb4+ 41.Ka3 Kf8 42.Re1 Re8 43.Rc1 Re3+ 44.Ka2 a4 {44...Ke7} 45.Rxd6 a3 46.Rc2 Reb3 47.Rd8+ Ke7 48.Rc8 Rb6?= {This turns a game with very good winning chances into a dead draw; 48...Rd3! -/+. - ALD} 49.c5 R6b5 50.Rc7+ Kd8 51.d6 Rb2+ 52.Rxb2 axb2 53.Kb1 h5 54.c6 Rb8? {And this turns a dead draw into a lost endgame; 54...Rb6=. - ALD} 55.Rxf7 Ke8 56.Rb7 Rd8 57.Re7+ Kf8 58.Rd7 {58.Re6!} Rc8 {58...Ke8} 59.Rc7 Ra8 60.Rb7 61.d7+ Kd8 62.Kxb2 h4 63.Kc3? {63.c7+! +-} g5 64.Kd4 h3 65.Ke5 h2? {65...Ke7 with (slim) drawing chances. - ALD} 66.Kd6! 1-0 {66...Rc8 67.Rb8 h1Q 68.dxc8Q#}

Ludek Pachman

GM Ludek Pachman, who passed away in March 2003, is in my opinion THE best chess writer ever ... hands down, bar none! Unfortunately, many of his books either were never published in English or are long out of print. Among my favorite Pachman books are ...

Modern Chess Strategy
A one-volume condensed version of the earlier (and long out-of-print) three-volume Complete Chess Strategy.

Tactica Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Tactics)
A two-volume follow-up to Modern Chess Strategy covering tactics. Lots and lots of examples, followed by lots of exercises and several illustrative full games, on each topic.

Teoria Moderna en Ajedrez (Modern Chess Theory)
A 4-volume opening treatise (Open Games, Semi-Open Games, Queen's Pawn Games, Closed Games). It doesn't cover quite the same amount of ground as ECO in terms of raw number of lines, but it still manages to cover an impressively immense amount of material while also including lots of textual discussion of the theory and strategy behind each opening and its major lines.

Decisive Games in Chess History
Pachman analysis 65 pivotal games from 1870 to 1972, looking not just at the actual chess moves on the board but also the competitive and psychological aspects of the situation.

FIDE World Cup Round 7 (Final)

All the games of the World Cup are available in PGN format.

The first ten places, who move on to the next phase of the FIDE World Championship. All five 2700-rated players among the sweet 16 ended up at the top of the list:
1. Aronian, Levon (ARM, 2724) - in tiebreak
2. Ponomariov, Ruslan (UKR, 2704)
3. Bacrot, Etienne (FRA, 2725) - in tiebreak
4. Grischuk, Alexander (RUS, 2720)
5. Bareev, Evgeny (RUS, 2717) - in tiebreak
6. Gelfand, Boris (ISR)
7. Rublevsky, Sergei (RUS) - 1.5 to 0.5
8. Gurevich, Mikhail (BEL)
9. Kamsky, Gata (USA) - in tiebreak
10. Carlsen, Magnus (NOR) - the lowest rated (2570) and of course youngest of the sweet 16

The remaining players are:
11. Malakhov, Vladimir (RUS) - 1.5 to 0.5
12. Vallejo Pons, Francisco (ESP)
13. Dreev, Alexey (RUS) - in tiebreak
14. Van Wely, Loek (NED)
15. Lautier, Joel (FRA) - final score was tied, but Lautier had Black in the drawn seventh Sudden Death game
16. Sakaev, Konstantin (RUS)

If Kasparov and Kramnik decline to play in the 2006 Candidate Matches as is widely expected, then Shirov (based on his rating) and Malakhov (based on his #11 place finish) would take their places, as explained extremely well by ChessBase.

Ivanchuk (UKR, 2748) lost out because (a) he was not rated one point higher on either the July 2004 or January 2005 rating lists as that would have been enough to move him ahead of Bacrot on the rating list and (b) he lost in the second round to Cheparinov of the World Cup tournament.

The two other 2700-players were Shirov (ESP, 2710) and Radjabov (AZE, 2704) who both lost in round 3, to M. Gurevich and L. van Wely, respectively.

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."