|
| 
|
Mating attack in the endgame II
10.09.2009
– As we recently saw in the Jermuk Grand Prix (article of 25.8.), there was once
again a nice mating attack in an endgame in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao.
Sergey Karjakin obviously underestimated the dangers threatening his king in
the simplified position after the exchange of queens. After 22. ... Qxf3
23.Qxf3 Rxf3 Aronian started with 24.Re7 – an attack which
came like a bolt from the blue and soon forced a resignation. Here's
GM analysis of Aronian-Karjakin
All
ChessBase reports on Bilbao
CBM Magazine Online.
|
| 
|
A genial genius at work – Tal blindfold simul in video
10.09.2009
– The wonder that is YouTube occasionally throws up something really fascinating. We have a great example – a ten-minute video that shows a blindfold simultaneous display, given by the immortal Mikhail Tal. The date is unclear and the commentary is all in Russian, but we have prepared a summary transcript in English. We were even able to reconstruct four game fragments.
Must watch.
|
| 
|
World Champion Viswanathan Anand visits Durban
09.09.2009
– It was a memorable experience for all involved, and an auspicious one too:
Durban Chess Club was celebrating its 116th birthday! World
Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand visited the Kwazulu Natal Province of South
Africa on a good-will tour, arranged by his sponsor NIIT.
Speeches, dinners, lectures, simul – the World Champion was in his element.
Big illustrated report by Desmond Rooplal.
|
| 
|
Astronaut Fuglesang in trouble – in space chess game
09.09.2009
– On August 28 Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang blasted off into space, on the 128th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. He conducted a seven-hour space walk at the International Space Station, and also continued his chess game against the readers of a Swedish newspaper. Both the astronaut, who has a tough position, and his opponents have
lovely prizes waiting for them.
|
| 
|
Bilbao Masters: Aronian beats Shirov, Karjakin beats Grischuk
09.09.2009
– What an unusual tournament: at halftime we note that there has been just one undecisive game (drawing average 16%!). Today Sergey Karjakin defeated the tournament leader Alexander Grischuk, while Levon Aronian beat Alexei Shirov with the black pieces to join Grischuk in the lead, both now having six Bilbao points.
Illustrated round three report.
|
| 
|
Getting a queen is not necessarily the be all and end all
09.09.2009
– In the tournament of "Experience" versus "Youth" in Amsterdam the position
in the diagram came up in the game Nakamura - Van Wely after 37. ... Rc1+.
Which route would you have chosen for your king here? 38.Kb4 or Kd3?
The analysis by our CBM endgame expert GM Karsten Müller will tell you
whether you made the correct choice.
The game Nakamura-Van Wely
Endgame DVDs by GM Karsten Müller
|
| 
|
Should one wake a sleeping chess player?
08.09.2009
– Amazing. The international discussion on chess subjects is currently centered around the question of whether it is ethical (and conformant with the rules) to wake a player who has fallen asleep in the middle of his game. This happened to GM Vladislav Tkachiev, who in round three of the Kolkata Open clearly displayed 'methylated somnolence', as tournament participant
Nigel Short calls it.
|
| 
|
Bilbao Masters: Girschuk strikes again, beats Shirov
08.09.2009
– Alexander Grischuk, fresh from victory in the Moscow Blitz tournament, is on a rampage in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao. The Russian grandmaster won his second game, this time with fine endgame play against Alexei Shirov. Meanwhile Levon Aronian struck out against an ill-prepared Sergey Karjakin to put three Bilbao points behind his name.
Round two report.
|
| 
|
For young and old – chess celebrations in Odessa
08.09.2009
– On 2 September 2009, for the fourth straight year, chess events were in the programme of the birthday celebrations in Odessa, once the fourth largest city of Imperial Russia, nowadays the fourth largest city in Ukraine – and always the best. Which is logical: none other than Efim Geller was officially recognised as the best sportsman of Odessa of the 20th century.
GM Mikhail Golubev reports.
|
| 
|
Breaking news: Carlsen and Kasparov join forces
07.09.2009
– It was the best-kept secret of the year: Magnus Carlsen, at 18 already the fourth highest ranked player in the world, has won the legendary Garry Kasparov, arguably the greatest player in chess history, as his personal trainer. The goal is to make Magnus the world's number one in the course of the coming year. The Norwegian newspaper
VG has broken the news.
|
| 
|
The Tkachiev incident: the arbiter replies
06.09.2009
– At the Kolkata Grandmaster Open one of the top seeds, GM Vladislav Tkachiev, appeared for his round three game in an intoxicated state, fell asleep at the board and was ultimately declared the loser. In our previous report we published a letter from one of the participants criticising the arbiter for waking the grandmaster. Is that a breach of the rules?
Not so, says R. Anantharam.
|
|
|
