Russian sources reported that unknown burglars have broken into Karpov's apartment while he was playing "Chess Champions League" in Vitoria earlier this month. Fortunately, alarm system was on and police rushed to the site, but thieves had enough time to steal samples of some rare chess pieces. This was third robbery in the same building over the last eight days. Karpov said that lighting in the house is awful.
International Belgrade Open Chess Championship is taking place on 22-30 November in traditional venue "Hotel Obrenovac". There are big delegations from Iceland, Spain, Romania and Macedonia, 226 players are breaking the record in participation. More information on the official website.
Leading with perfect score after 3 rounds: Mihic Bojan (2377 SRB), GM Parligras Mircea (2553 ROU), GM Manolache Marius (2513 ROU), FM Prelevic Dusko (2352 SRB), Radovanovic Dusan (2327 SRB), GM Rajkovic Dusan (2522 SRB), GM Stanojoski Zvonko (2467 MKD), IM Zivanic Marko (2460 SRB), Nestorovic Nikola (2436 SRB), IM Govedarica Radovan (2388 SRB), IM Andrijevic Milan (2357 SRB), Pancevski Filip (2340 MKD), Rajcevic Stevan (2137 SRB), Ivanov Stoijan (2231 BUL), FM Solomunovic Igor (2403 GER), FM Baratosi Daniel (2448 ROU), IM Perunovic Miodrag (2407 SRB), IM Tadic Branko (2484 SRB), IM Cvetkovic Srdjan (2380 SRB) and FM Martic Ivan (2304 SRB).
The 67th Italian Chess Championship will be held on 23 November till 4 December 2007 in Martina Franca. Games will be broadcasted live with commentary by IM Pierluigi Piscopo. Participants: GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Michele Godena, GM Carlo Garcia-Palermo, IM Sabino Brunello, IM Fabio Bruno, IM Giulio Borgo, IM Roberto Mogranzini, IM Federico Manca, IM Daniel Contin, FM Daniele Genocchio, FM Denis Rombaldoni, and Alessandro Bonafede.
A number of open tournaments and simul exhibitions will be organized at the same time. More information on the official website.
The Knights Errant, group of organized chess bloggers trying to improve their tactical pattern recognition using a Michael de la Maza method, are now having a clear FAQ posted on the dedicated blogspot page. Check it out, you might want to join.
The 2nd International Rapid Chess Open is ongoing in Arad, Romania. This event is organized by Vados Chess Club Arad, with the support of Arad City Hall, Arad Cultural County Centre, DSJ Arad County and Arad County Chess Association and is part of the greater Romanian Grand Prix 2007. Playing system is swiss with 25 minutes per player per game, prize fund is 2100 Euros with Grandmasters being provided special conditions. All the prizes are neto (tax free), guaranteed, not cumulative and will be divided according to the Hort system.
Top players: GM Constantin Lupulescu 2562, GM Marius Manolache 2513, IM Catalin Ardelean 2494, IM Spas Kozhuharov BUL 2463, IM Grigor Grigorov BUL 2452, IM Andrei Cioara 2428, IM Mihai Grunberg 2427, IM Alin Ardeleanu 2412, IM Dan Bogdan 2412, IM Alexandru Butunoi 2403 etc.
50 participants in total.
Official website
Spanish championship is currently in progress in Ayamonte, Huelva. System of play is 8 knockout rounds, 16 have started and now we have semifinal tiebreak. Prizes are donated by Ayuntamiento de Ayamonte.
GM Miguel Illescas Córdoba beat GM Pablo San Segundo Carrillo 2:1 and qualified for the final. GM Ibragim Khamrakulov and GM Josep Manuel López Martínez are at 1.5:1.5 at the moment, next tiebreak game should follow soon.
Official website
In our last post we have mentioned Teimour Radjabov's interview with APA Sports and expressed belief that translation is wrong and Radjabov was misquoted. Quickly after that, the interview reached chess "mainstream" websites. Having in mind that APA text was somehow controversial, one would expect that serious journalists will double-check what Radjabov really said.
ChessBase.com boss obviously doesn't care about ethics as he quickly copied APA's awful translation adding more fuel to the fire with demented title "Teimour Radjabov: We all hate Armenians". Later on, after Radjabov had published open letter on ACP website, the title was changed, but the damage to young lad was already done.
What else could we expect from the man that initiates and lives on the scandals. He was the "anonymous Dutch amateur" that filmed Silvio Danailov "giving signals" to Veselin Topalov during Corus tournament. Luckily, the chicanery backfired on him as most of the readership dismissed cheating accusations as stupid and ungrounded.
Fritz sux, too.
Teimour Radjabov gave an interview for APA-Sport one day after the European team championship has ended. The article is titled "The enemy is the enemy, we hate Armenians", and Teimour supposedly said: We were very anxious. It does not mean where we compete, the enemy is the enemy. We all have feeling of hate. But we should suppress these feelings while competing so that they were not able to impede us.
I believe the article is just poorly translated to English. Radjabov exchanged few words with Vladimir Akopian after the game, team captains shook hands, Gabriel Sargissian and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov were buying drinks to each other in the disco...
Tal Memorial is scheduled to take place on 9-19 November in Moscow. FIDE approved World Blitz Championship will follow on 21-22 November.
Participants (according to rating): Ivanchuk Vassily (UKR 2787), Kramnik Vladimir (RUS 2785), Leko Peter (HUN 2755), Mamedyarov Shakhriyar (AZE 2752), Shirov Alexei (ESP 2739), Gelfand Boris (ISR 2736), Kamsky Gata (USA 2724), Alekseev Evgeny (RUS 2716), Carlsen Magnus (NOR 2714) and Jakovenko Dmitry (RUS 2710).
Round 1:
Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Vladimir Kramnik - Magnus Carlsen draw
Gata Kamsky - Boris Gelfand draw
Dmitry Jakovenko - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov draw
Evgeny Alekseev - Vassily Ivanchuk draw
Peter Leko - Alexei Shirov
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. Na3 O-O 11. axb5 axb5 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Bc2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5 15. f4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Qg4 Qf6 18. b4 Ne7 19. Na3 Ng6 20. Nc4 Bxd4 21. cxd4 Qxd4 22. Na5 Qd2 23. Bb3 Ne5 24. Nc4 Nxg4 25. Nxd2 Rxb4 26. Rfc1 Ne5 27. Rxc7 g5 28. Bd5 g4 29. Nc4 h5 30. Nxe5 dxe5 31. Re7 1-0
Round 2:
Alexei Shirov - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov draw
Boris Gelfand - Vladimir Kramnik draw
Magnus Carlsen - Evgeny Alekseev draw
Vassily Ivanchuk - Dmitry Jakovenko draw
Peter Leko - Gata Kamsky draw
Round 3:
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0
Vladimir Kramnik - Peter Leko 1-0
Gata Kamsky - Alexei Shirov 0-1
Dmitry Jakovenko - Magnus Carlsen 0-1
Evgeny Alekseev - Boris Gelfand draw
Standings:
1-3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik 2.0; 4-7. Peter Leko, Evgeny Alekseev, Alexei Shirov and Boris Gelfand 1.5; 8-10. Dmitry Jakovenko, Gata Kamsky and Vassily Ivanchuk 1.0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Vassily Ivanchuk
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10. O-O Bg7 11. Qc2 O-O 12. Bb3 Qe7 13. Ne4 e5 14. Nc3 a5 15. a3 Kh7 16. Rfe1 b6 17. Rad1 Bb7 18. d5 Rac8 19. d6 Qe8 20. h4 f5 21. e4 f4 22. Na4 Bf6 23. g3 Bd8 24. Kg2 Rf6 25. g4 Ba6 26. g5 Rf8 27. gxh6 Kxh6 28. Rg1 c5 29. Bd5 b5 30. Nc3 b4 31. Ne2 Nb6 32. Kh2 Rh8 33. Bf7 Qxf7 34. Nxe5 Qe8 35. Nxg6 Nd7 36. Nexf4 Ne5 37. d7 Nxd7 38. e5 Qxe5 39. Nxe5 1-0
Round 4:
Magnus Carlsen - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov draw
Alexei Shirov - Vassily Ivanchuk draw
Gata Kamsky - Vladimir Kramnik draw
Boris Gelfand - Dmitry Jakovenko draw
Peter Leko - Evgeny Alekseev draw
Standings:
1-3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik 2.5; 4-7. Peter Leko, Evgeny Alekseev, Alexei Shirov and Boris Gelfand 2.0; 8-10. Dmitry Jakovenko, Gata Kamsky and Vassily Ivanchuk 1.5
Round 5:
Evgeny Alekseev - Gata Kamsky draw
Vladimir Kramnik - Alexei Shirov 1-0
Dmitry Jakovenko - Peter Leko draw
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Boris Gelfand draw
Vassily Ivanchuk - Magnus Carlsen draw
Standings:
1. Vladimir Kramnik 3.5; 2-3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Magnus Carlsen 3.0; 4-6. Peter Leko, Evgeny Alekseev and Boris Gelfand 2.5; 7-10. Dmitry Jakovenko, Alexei Shirov, Gata Kamsky and Vassily Ivanchuk 2.0
Round 6:
Vladimir Kramnik - Evgeny Alekseev 1-0
Boris Gelfand - Vassily Ivanchuk draw
Alexei Shirov - Magnus Carlsen 1-0
Peter Leko - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov draw
Gata Kamsky - Dmitry Jakovenko 0-1
Standings:
1. Vladimir Kramnik 4.5; 2. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3.5; 3-7. Magnus Carlsen, Peter Leko, Alexei Shirov, Dmitry Jakovenko and Boris Gelfand 3.0; 8-9. Evgeny Alekseev and Vassily Ivanchuk 2.5; 10. Gata Kamsky 2.0
Round 7:
Evgeny Alekseev - Alexei Shirov 0-1
Dmitry Jakovenko - Vladimir Kramnik draw
Vassily Ivanchuk - Peter Leko draw
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Gata Kamsky 0-1
Magnus Carlsen - Boris Gelfand draw
Standings:
1. Vladimir Kramnik 5.0; 2. Alexei Shirov 4.0; 3-7. Magnus Carlsen, Peter Leko, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Dmitry Jakovenko and Boris Gelfand 3.5; 8-9. Gata Kamsky and Vassily Ivanchuk 3.0; 10. Evgeny Alekseev 2.5
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Gata Kamsky
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. c5 Bf5 6. Bf4 Nbd7 7. e3 g6 8. h3 Bg7 9. Be2 Be4 10. Nh4 e5 11. Bg3 exd4 12. exd4 O-O 13. f3 Bf5 14. Nxf5 gxf5 15. Qd2 Nh5 16. Bf2 f4 17. O-O-O Re8 18. Rhe1 Nf8 19. Bd3 Qf6 20. Na4 Ne6 21. Bc2 Ng3 22. Qd3 Qh6 23. Nc3 Re7 24. b4 Rae8 25. a4 a5 26. b5 Qg6 27. Qd2 Qf6 28. Ne2 Nxc5 29. Nxf4 Rxe1 30. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 31. Bxe1 Nf1 32. Nh5 Qe7 33. Qxa5 b6 34. Qa8+ Bf8 35. Bc3 Ne6 36. Qxc6 Qg5+ 37. Kb1 Qxh5 38. a5 Qg5 39. a6 Nd2+ 40. Ka2 Nc4 41. Kb3 0-1
Round 8: Vladimir Kramnik secured first place with one round to spare.
Vladimir Kramnik - Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1-0
Evgeny Alekseev - Dmitry Jakovenko draw
Alexei Shirov - Boris Gelfand draw
Peter Leko - Magnus Carlsen draw
Gata Kamsky - Vassily Ivanchuk draw
Standings:
1. Vladimir Kramnik 6.0; 2. Alexei Shirov 4.5; 3-6. Magnus Carlsen, Peter Leko, Dmitry Jakovenko and Boris Gelfand 4.0; 7-9. Gata Kamsky, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vassily Ivanchuk 3.5; 10. Evgeny Alekseev 3.0
Round 9:
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - Evgeny Alekseev draw
Dmitry Jakovenko - Alexei Shirov draw
Vassily Ivanchuk - Vladimir Kramnik draw
Magnus Carlsen - Gata Kamsky draw
Boris Gelfand - Peter Leko draw
Final Standings:
1. Vladimir Kramnik 6.5; 2. Alexei Shirov 5.0; 3-6. Magnus Carlsen, Peter Leko, Dmitry Jakovenko and Boris Gelfand 4.5; 7-9. Gata Kamsky, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Vassily Ivanchuk 4.0; 10. Evgeny Alekseev 3.5
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