New Year Mix

As usual, chess organizers are very busy around the Holidays. A number of tournaments have been played between December 26th and 30th, here are brief reports.


27th Bethune International Open was played with 9 rounds and prize fund of 6000 euros. There were 114 participants, young FM Sebastien Feller has earned GM norm.

Final standings:
1-2. GM Vladimir Burmakin (RUS 2559) and GM Erwin L'Ami (NED 2593) 7.0
3-9. FM Sebastien Feller (FRA 2424), IM Oleg Gladyszev (RUS 2464), GM Andrei Shchekachev (RUS 2561), IM Dimitar Marholev (BUL 2391), GM Stanislav Savchenko (UKR 2532), GM Jean-Marc Degraeve (FRA 2551) and IM Tigran Gharamian (FRA 2467) 6.5 etc


16th Radisson SAS Weihnachts-Open was held in Erfurt, Germany. There were 8 rounds, prize fund 4000 euros.

Final standings:
1. GM Henrik Teske (GER 2514) 7.0
2. GM Peter Enders (GER 2434) 6.5
3. Oliver Mihok (HUN 2248) 6.0
4-10. Johannes Raps (GER 2162), Werner Wilke (AUT 2245), IM Josef Pribyl (CZE 2400), FM Joachim Bruggemann (GER 2353), FM Claus Pitschka (GER 2279), Jurgen Stiller (GER 2204) and Marcel Jugel (GER 2251) 5.5 etc (70 participants)


9th Internacional feria de Cali Grand Prix was held in Cali Valle, Columbia. 75 players have competed through 9 rounds.

Final standings:
1. IM Nelson Gamboa (COL 2368) 8.0
2-3. IM Oscar Castro (COL 2383) and IM Alberto Rivera (CUB 2381) 7.0
4-6. IM Miguel Mosquera (COL 2425), IM Alder Escobar Forero (COL 2457) and FM Henry Contreras (COL 2293) 6.5
7-12. IM Sergio Barrientos (COL 2421), Mauricio Uribe (COL 2340), David Arenas (COL 2007), Andres Gallego (COL 2193), Jorge Cuartas (COL 2201) and Carlos Beltran (COL 2281) 6.0 etc (75 players)


Open International d'echecs de Nantes was played with 9 rounds. There were 90 participants, first prize 1000 euros.

Final standings:
1. IM Anthony Wirig (FRA 2439) 8.5
2. IM Kamran Shirazi (FRA 2406) 7.5
3. IM Jean-Pierre Le Roux (FRA 2494) 7.0
4-7. Maxime Lagarde (FRA 2154), Axel Delorme (FRA 2274), Alban Delorme (FRA 2243) and Jean-Phillipe Martinez (FRA 2072) etc


Some of the tournaments are still in progress, here is the list:
15th International Donau Open in Aschach an der Donau
Czech Chess Christmas 2006 in Litomysl
17th International Festival "Cracovia 2006" in Cracow, Poland
36th Rilton Cup in Stockholm, Sweden
Hastings Chess Congress, England
49th Reggio Emilia, Italy


Happy New Year!

Open Illes Medes

Chess International Open Illes Medes will be held on 28th December 2006 to 4th January 2007 in Girona, province Catalonia, Spain. There will be 142 participants and prize fund is 22.200 euros. GM Alexander Delchev will host simul exhibition on 29th December.

Top players: Aleksander Delchev (BUL 2628), Hicham Hamdouchi (MAR 2582), Mateusz Bartel (POL 2569), Azer Mirzoev (AZE 2543), Viktor Moskalenko (UKR 2543), Mihaí Suba (ROM 2535) and Boris Chatalbashev (BUL 2534)

Official website

Umakant Sharma Banned

Umakant Sharma, who was caught with wireless device during the tournament, is banned for 10 years by The All India Chess Federation.

Ghost Tourney in Hungary - Frauds Busted
Boris Kreiman
Valerian Adam

We did not accuse

With my modest knowledge of Russian, I have tried to translate parts of the today's interview "We did not accuse Kramnik of fraud" with Silvio Danailov:

Q: The interview with Topalov was real? Or was it just imagination of Spanish journalist?
A: The interview was not on the paper. And things that appear on the internet shouldn't be taken seriously. The text, in the version that was posted on the internet, Topalov never saw with his eyes. That's all I have to say.

Q: The 3rd Mtel Masters will be held as usual? Who will play in 2007?
A: Yes, the tournament will be held on 9th-20th May. We have confirmed participation of Topalov, Radjabov and Kamsky. We want to invite Anand and Ivanchuk as well, and for the 6th player, we will see.

Q: Kramnik won't be invited?
A: Well, if Kramnik's manager says that they won't talk or greet us, then why wasting our time? But we will see.

Q: Has the attitude of Bulgarian public towards Topalov changed after he lost his title?
A: Everyone in Bulgaria support us. All parties, prime minister and president are with us. All Bulgaria is proud of Veselin Topalov and even if he lost, everyone knows, that we did everything to protect honor of Bulgaria.

Hastings Chess Congress

The oldest chess festival continues its tradition of having tournaments for New Year. A strong international open and number of accompanying events will be held on 28th Dec 2006 to 7th Jan 2007.

Players so far registered for main tournament: GM Merab Gagunashvili (GEO 2611), GM Vyacheslav Ikonnikov (RUS 2587), GM Mark Hebden (ENG 2545), GM Farhad Tahirov (AZE 2545), GM Valeriy Neverov (UKR 2538), GM Zvulon Gofshtein (ISR 2509), GM Milos Pavlovic (SCG 2507), GM Nicholas Pert (ENG 2502), GM Bogdan Lalic (CRO 2491), IM Simon Williams (ENG 2473), GM Alexander Cherniaev (RUS 2472), WGM Dagne Cuiksyte (LTU 2440) etc

Official website
Final standings

FM Nicholas Chan wins WCN Masters

The outcome can be surprising only for those who don't know this modest and talented Malaysian junior. FM Chan has been appreciated by WCN members for his nice personality and avid blitz skills. I guess only his college obligations prevented him from achieving higher ratings.

69 players have started the tournament, few of them dropped before the end. Top class GMs Alex Moiseenko and Boris Avrukh have finished with 7.0/12 only. The observers were particularly happy to see GM James Plaskett back after he won big prize in the English quiz. His "plaskettisms" were causing laughers, my favorite was "Kasparov told me I have nice legs".

FM Nicholas Chan

Final WCN Masters Standings:
1. FM Nicholas Chan 9.0 (prize $250 USD)
2-6. GM Sergey Volkov, GM Sune Berg Hansen, IM Miodrag Perunovic, IM Goran Vojinovic and GM Daniel Fridman 8.5 ($30 USD each)
7-10. GM Michael Roiz, GM Ivan Ivanisevic, IM Dusan Popovic and FM Dragan Stamenkovic 8.0
11-14. IM Juan Rohl, GM Victor Mikhalevski, FM Martin Taylor and FM Igor Saric 7.5 etc


FM Nicholas Chan - GM Sune Berg Hansen
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Be7 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. Nge2 h5 8. Ng3 h4 9. Nf5 Bf8 10. Nb5 Nb6 11. f4 g6 12. fxe5 dxe5 13. Ne3 a6 14. Nc3 Nh5 15. Ng4 Bg7 16. O-O Qe7 17. Be3 Bd7 18. b4 cxb4 19. Bxb6 bxc3 20. c5 O-O 21. Rf3 Qg5 22. Ne3 Nf4 23. Bf1 f5 24. Qc2 fxe4 25. Qxe4 Nh3+ 26. Rxh3 Bxh3 27. c6 bxc6 28. dxc6 Rac8 29. c7 Kh8 30. Bxa6 Rce8 31. Nd5 c2 32. Be3 Qg4 33. Qxg4 Bxg4 34. Rc1 Bd1 35. Nb4 e4 36. Nxc2 Bg4 37. Nd4 Bc8 38. Be2 Re5 39. Nc6 Re6 40. Na7 Bd7 41. Bg4 1-0

Corus 2007

One of the strongest chess tournament will be held on 13-28th January in Wijk an Zee, Netherlands. WCN admins Carla Amse and Bogdan Girmacea will be at the site to provide reports and photos. We're hoping for some audio interviews as well. IM Miodrag Perunovic will analyse games in his round by round reports to be posted every day in WCN News.


Lineup:
GM Veselin Topalov (BUL 2813), GM Viswanathan Anand (IND 2779), GM Vladimir Kramnik (RUS 2750), GM Peter Svidler (RUS 2750), GM Levon Aronian (ARM 2741), GM Teymour Radjabov (AZE 2729), GM David Navara (CZE 2725), GM Alexey Shirov (ESP 2720), GM Ruslan Ponomariov (UKR 2703), GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR 2698), GM Sergey Tiviakov (NED 2680), GM Loek van Wely (NED 2676), GM Sergey Karjakin (UKR 2672) and GM Alexander Motylev (RUS 2662)


Once again, WCN asked GM Alex Finkel to write one of his excellent preview articles:
"Indeed, it’s been a while since we have seen Kramnik, Topalov and Anand competing head to head in the same event. Add to it three brightest young talents Radjabov, Carlsen and Karjakin, ever brilliant Svidler, Aronian and Shirov, rising star of the modern chess David Navara (replacing Morozevich, which had withdrawn for the personal reasons, even though the rumors circulating in the chess world strongly imply that he is just not ready to play in the same event with Topalov!), former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, two best Dutch players Wan Vely and Tiviakov, the winner of last year tournament "B" Alexander Motylev (who happens to be Kramnik’s second!) and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a perfect tournament!"


WorldChessNetwork broadcast schedule:
Saturday, January 13th at 7:30 est - audio comments by IM Irina Krush
Sunday, January 14th at 7:30 est - audio comments by GM Larry Christiansen
Monday, January 15th at 7:30 est - TBA


January 13th Update: Most of the games have finished in quick draws, the only winner was Teimour Radjabov playing Kings Indian against Van Wely.

Magnus Carlsen

Veselin Topalov - Alexander Motylev draw
Loek van Wely - Teimour Radjabov 0-1
Sergey Karjakin - Vladimir Kramnik draw
Alexey Shirov - Peter Svidler draw
Sergei Tiviakov - Magnus Carlsen draw
David Navara - Levon Aronian draw
Ruslan Ponomariov - Vishy Anand draw

1st Round Review by IM Miodrag Perunovic

Astana vs World

This chess match was organized as part of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence. Vishy Anand was hosting a press conference and simul on 17th December, and the match was played on 18th-20th December. Visitors have won by 9-3.


Astana vs World pairings (hosts on the left):
GM Darmen Sadvakasov 2596 - GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2728
IM Anuar Ismagambetov 2418 - IM Zaven Andriasian 2463
WIM Dana Aketaeva 2312 - GM Maia Chiburdanidze 2504

Vishy Anand during the simul

Darmen Sadvakasov vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Anuar Ismagambetov vs Zaven Andriasian

Photos: chess.ir.kz

Results of the 2nd Bone Tournament

The 2nd Bone blitz tournament was held on Sunday 17th December in hotel "Ravno", Cuprija. Not all of the announced masters showed up, but in overall, it was wonderful tournament. I was particularly happy to see our guests having fun at the first place, without being worried about prizes.

Miroslav Milenkovic Bone was deeply touched with the attention of his chess colleagues. You should have seen IM Mihajlo Stojanovic's stunned face when I introduced him to Bone. He thought we were making memorial tournament. An error by newspaper editor also caused a bunch of humorous moments.

A glitch in Swiss Manager program caused a shorter tournament. We have played 19 rounds out of planned 20. There were 42 participants.


Final standings:
1. IM Zoran Novoselski (2351) with 16.5 points
2. FM Boroljub Zlatanovic (2331) 16.0
3. IM Mihajlo Stojanovic (2556) 15.5
4. GM Vladimir Raicevic (2446) 14.0
5. FM Dragan Kojovic (2367) 13.5
6-8. FM Mladen Milenkovic (2349), GM Milko Popcev (BUL 2413) and FM Dejan Brankovic (2394) 11.5 etc


After the tournament I had a training session with IM Mihajlo Stojanovic. It was really insightful to hear how titled player evaluates positions and learn about thinking process while finding the best plan. I hope to schedule another session after Mihajlo returns from his tour in Italy.

Tournament winner IM Zoran Novoselski

GM Vladimir Raicevic

GM Vladimir Raicevic vs FM Boroljub Zlatanovic

GM Milko Popcev vs IM Mihajlo Stojanovic. Bone watching in behind.

11-years old Uros Cvetanovic vs IM Mihajlo Stojanovic

Weekend Events in Serbia

5th Rapid Chess Championship of Serbia was held on 15th-16th December in Cacak. 9 rounds have been played with time control of 30 minutes and prize fund of $3700 USD.

Final standings:
1-7. GM Miodrag R.Savic 2527, GM Dejan Pikula 2542, GM Bosko Abramovic 2524, GM Milos Perunovic 2532, IM Branko Tadic 2482, GM Ivan Ivanisevic 2579 and GM Dusan Rajkovic 2506 with 7/0/9
8-11. IM Goran Arsovic 2470, GM Igor Miladinovic 2598, GM Sinisa Drazic 2483 and IM Danilo Milanovic 2477 with 6.5/9
12-18.IM Slobo Vratonjic 2467, GM Branko Damljanovic 2595, Nikola D.Nestorovic 2400, IM Misa Pap 2430, IM Dusan Popovic 2550, GM Slobodan Martinovic 2440 and FM Boban Bogosavljevic 2375 with 6.0/9


Most of the players from Cacak have to moved to Nova Pazova on the next day December 17th for another rapid tournament with time control of 15 minutes. The only exception was IM Zoran Novoselski, who came to Cuprija to win our blitz tournament.

Nova Pazova final standings:
1-2. IM Branko Tadic 2482 and IM Danilo Milanovic 2477 with 7.5/9
3-8. GM Milos Perunovic 2532, GM Miodrag R.Savic 2527, IM Goran Arsovic 2470, IM Misa Pap 2430, GM Sinisa Drazic 2483 and GM Ivan Ivanisevic 2579 with 7.0/9
9-14. IM Dusan Popovic 2550, IM Zoran Arsovic 2449, IM Borko Lajthajm 2519, FM Ivan Sredojevic 2336, GM Igor Miladinovic 2598 and Nikola D.Nestorovic 2400 with 6.5/9 etc

WCN Masters Tournament!

The tradition of the best internet blitz tournament continues after one year of break. Chess players around the world are invited to play or watch. Friday is "Gold for a Day" on WorldChessNetwork, when all players have access to all features.


We are pleased to invite all players over 2300 to join us this Friday December 22nd @ 15:00 est to give it a try.

Prizes = $400!

First prize is $250 USD
Second one $100 USD
and third $50 USD.


Note that this event uses the Swiss pairing system, and will last 12 Rounds. Should you be disconnected during your game, your clock will continue to run. The time control of each game is 3 minutes per player. All games are rated.

We do have monitors reviewing the games to ensure play is fair. You are not permitted to use chess programs at any time on WCN. Note that we will forfeit players we suspect of doing so, at our discretion. If your internet connection is unstable, and you are being frequently disconnected, you may be removed from the tournament. You may also be removed if your lag becomes unreasonable. A lag value less than 600 ms is allowed. Please do not initiate immediate draws at the start of a game. The spirit of
the WCN Masters tournament is to showcase you as a top player, battling for a victory each game. Drawn games without any moves may result in being disqualified from cash prizes. If a Site Professional wins a cash prize, it will be added to their monthly
pay report.

If a non-Site Professional wins a cash prize, we will be contacting you by email to confirm delivery details. You can also contact Julie Trottier at siteprosdept@worldchessnetwork.com.

Should two players tie for first, both split the cash prize. However, we will then ask for a "Best of 7" 1-minute match between the two players to determine the title of "WCN Champion".

Should more than two players tie for first, all tied players split the cash prize. No further games result.

Winners of the WCN Masters Tournament can also request their prize to be converted into WCN Crowns. Each Crown = $1 and they can be used to purchase Memberships or Lessons.

To join the WCN Masters Tournament:

Please log in to WCN @ 14:30 est Friday, December 22nd
Click Play - Tournaments - WCN Masters Tournament


The best of Luck!

Tournament Managers
Julie Trottier & Lena Brusilovski
support@worldchessnetwork.com

2nd Bone Tournament

Chess club "Radnicki" from Cuprija is organizing 2nd blitz tournament in honor of the Serbian chess legend Miroslav Milenkovic Bone to be held on 17th December in hotel "Ravno". Last year's closed event had 22 participants. This time club members have gathered $450 USD for prize fund and made it open to everyone.

In spite of other weekends tournaments with bigger prize funds (Nova Pazova, Cacak, Negotin), we have managed to provide participation of club's friends GM Vladimir Raicevic (2446), GM Milko Popchev (BUL 2413), IM Mihajlo Stojanovic (2556), IM Goran Vojinovic (2461), IM-elect Dragan Stamenkovic (2404) and IM Branimir Maksimovic (2385). We also expect a whole bunch of local players. Report on Monday.

2nd GM norm for Boskovic

Serbian IM Drasko Boskovic (2444) and GM Yuri Shulman (2614) have tied 1st place at the recently played UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational. With this fantastic result Drasko has securred his 2nd GM norm.

"The results of the fifth-annual event were somewhat of an upset, since Boskovic, who holds the title of international master and had a pre-tournament chess rating of 2444, equaled the effort of Shulman, a grandmaster whose rating was 2614 before the competition. Shulman entered the tournament as the top seed among the dozen entrants." - Official statement


Final standings:
1-2. IM Drasko Boskovic (SCG 2444) and GM Yuri Shulman (2614) 7.5/11
3. GM Alejandro Ramirez (CRC 2485) 7.0
4-6. GM Igor Novikov (USA 2568), FM John Bartholomew (USA 2411) and GM Magesh Panchanathan (IND 2485) 6.5
7-8. IM Davorin Kuljasevic (CRO 2448) and FM Joseph Bradford (USA 2451) 5.5
9-10. Keaton Kiewra (USA 2264) and IM Marko Zivanic (SCG 2451) 4.5
11. IM Jacek Stopa (POL 2465) 2.5
12. FM Igor Schneider (USA 2369) 2.0


IM Drasko Boskovic -IM Jacek Stopa
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.a4 a6 8.Na3 Bg4 9.f3 Be6 10.Bc4 Qb6 11.Qd3 Nb4 12.Qe2 Rc8 13.Bg5 Bxc4 14.Nxc4 Nxc2+ 15.Qxc2 Rxc4 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qe2 Qc5 18.Rd1 Rd4 19.Rxd4 Qxd4 20.Nd5 Bh6 21.Qc2 Qc5 22.Nxf6+ Ke7 23.Qxc5 dxc5 24.Ng4 Bg7 25.Ne3 Rd8 26.Ke2 Ke6 27.Rc1 Bf8 28.Nd5 Bd6 29.g4 h5 30.Kf2 Rg8 31.h3 Rh8 32.Kg3 h4+ 33.Kf2 b5 34.axb5 axb5 35.Ra1 c4 36.Ra6 Rb8 37.Ke2 b4 38.Ne3 c3 39.Nf5 1-0

Challenged

Silvio Danailov has sent official proposal for the Topalov-Kramnik rematch. The match should take place on March or April 2007 in Sofia with the net prize fund of 1.5 million (million for Kramnik). Patron of the match would be Bulgarian president Georgi Purvanov.

"The official invitation for a return match was sent late on Thursday night at the FIDE headquarters, Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov said."

Bulgaria is joining EU on 1st January 2007.

Kramnik and Topalov to play in the same team

If this really happens, who will be on board one? Chess club "Sveti Nikolaj" from Valjevo in central Serbia is negotiating with Vladimir Kramnik to join the club in its chase after 2007 European Club Cup. Team captain Milan Bozic confirmed that Veselin Topalov and Anatoly Karpov are already their members.

Branko Damljanovic (2595) and Ivan Ivanisevic (2579), 2nd and 3rd on Serbian rating list, have also signed contracts with VSK "Sveti Nikolaj". Together with old residents Viorel Iordachescu (2564), Mihajlo Stojanovic (2556), Dragoljub Velimirovic (2459), Borko Lajthajm (2519), Milan Bozic (2401) and Nenad Popovic (2262) they make respectable force.

Source: "Blic"


Update: I spoke with Milan Bozic and he confirmed that Kramnik and Topalov will play in the same team if "Sveti Nikolaj" gets wildcard for the European Club Cup. He didn't want to speculate who will be on the 1st board if they get to play in the same round. Anatoly Karpov signed the contract and he will play a simul in Valjevo on 24th December.

J'adoubie Nominations

Jim from The J'adoubie Awards Committee has posted categories and nominations for the annual J'adoubies awards.

Michael Goeller has nominated GM Danny Gormally for as many as four categories: J'ahad, J'aDOH, J'adore and J'ahaha.

Temposchlucker has nominated Susan Polgar in J'adEGO category - for the vainest chess personality. The reason was "having more pictures of herself on her website than Paris Hilton has casual sex encounters".

The J'adoubie-doo-bee-doo is awarded to the biggest whiner in the chess world because they sound like howling cats in the alley. Tom Chivers has nominated Chessbase, "for their rave anthems about Deep Fritz that boom out loud and clear all across their front page".

Read the entire article as Knights Errant continue to post their favorites.

Related Post

Topalov Ready for Rematch

From Topalov fan website:

Topalov, Danailov, and Ginchev helped the rumors spread even more by saying that they will present the documents for a return match with Kramnik in a week. Danailov says that the FIDE central expects the official documents and that the match is supposed to take place in April.

The Spanish ABC cites Topalov on the posibility of a return match with Kramnik. Veselin sounds quiet sceptic on the issue, "Everybody knows that something was not ok with Kramnik’s bathroom. Everybody knows Maradona scored with his hand in the final and nobody took away the title from Argentina."

Kramnik Getting Married

Alexander Roshal, the editor-in-chief of magazine "64", shared "the secret" that Vladimir Kramnik and his girlfriend Maria will get married in Paris on December 30th or 31st. The two have met when Kramnik played world chess championship against Peter Leko and Maria came to interview him. We wish them best of luck!

Vladimir Kozin reported

Italian Chess Championship

The 66th Italian Championship was held on November 21st-December 4th in Cremona. GM Michele Godena and IM Fabiano Caruana were tied on the first place but Godena won the rapid/blitz playoff.


Final standings:
1-2. GM Michele Godena 2522 and IM Fabiano Caruana 2474 with 8.0/11; 3. IM Federico Manca 2425 7.5; 4-5. GM Carlos Garcia Palermo 2452 and IM Fabio Bruno 2408 6.5; 6. IM Giulio Borgo 2420 6.0; 7. IM Pierluigi Piscopo 2380 5.5; 8-9. IM Daniele Vocaturo 2441 and FM Sabino Brunello 2460 5.0; 10. IM Daniel Contin 2386 4.0; 11. FM Michelangelo Scalcione 2325 2.5; 12. IM Spartaco Sarno 2354 1.5


IM Daniele Vocaturo - GM Michele Godena
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. axb5 axb5 11. Na3 O-O 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. d5 Ne7 14. Bc2 Ng6 15. h3


15...Bxh3 16. gxh3 Qd7 17. c4 Qxh3 18. Ng5 Qg3+ 19. Kh1 Qh4+ 20. Kg2 Nf4+ 21. Bxf4 exf4 22. Nh3 g5 23. Ra3 Ng4 24. Rh1 Nxf2 25. Nxf2 Qxf2+ 26. Kh3 f5 27. exf5 Qh4+ 28. Kg2 Qf2+ 29. Kh3 Rbe8 30. Rf3 Re3 31. Rxe3 Qxe3+ 32. Kg4 h5+ 33. Kxh5 Kf7 34. f6 Rh8+ 35. Kg4 Kxf6 36. Qe1 Rh4+ 37. Rxh4 Qxe1 38. Rh6+ Kg7 39. Rh7+ Kg8 40. Bg6 Qg3+ 41. Kf5 f3 0-1


FM Michelangelo Scalcione - IM Fabiano Caruana
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 Nc6 3. d4 e6 4. a3 d6 5. Nc3 g6 6. e4 Bg7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O Re8 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Nh5 12. d5 Ne7 13. Nd4 Nf4 14. Bxf4 gxf4 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Bg4 Nc6 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Qd2 Rf8 19. Rad1 Qg5 20. Bf3 Be5 21. Ne2 Kh8 22. Qa5 Rf7 23. Rd2 Rg7 24. Nc1 Qh4 25. Nd3 Bd4 26. e5 Bd7 27. Re1 Rag8 28. Re4 Qh3 29. Kf1 Rxg2 30. Ke2 Rg1 31. Rc2 c5 32. Qxc7 Ba4 33. Rc1


33...Rd1 34. Rxd1 Bxd1+ 35. Kd2 Qxf3 36. Qc6 0-1


GM Michele Godena - IM Daniel Contin
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Be2 f6 7. exf6 Qxf6 8. Nb3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. c4 b6 11. Bg5 Qf7 12. Bh4 Nf6 13. c5 bxc5 14. dxc5 Bf4 15. g3 Bh6 16. Bb5 Nb8 17. Ne5 Qe7 18. Ng4 c6 19. Ba4 e5 20. Bxf6 Rxf6 21. Nxf6+ Qxf6 22. Na5 Qe6 23. Bb3 Bd7 24. Qe2 g6 25. Rfe1 Bg7 26. Nc4 e4 27. Nd6 a5 28. Qc2 a4 29. Bxa4 Qh3 30. Bb3 Be6 31. Nxe4 dxe4 32. Rxe4 Bd5 33. Bxd5+ cxd5 34. Re8+ Kf7 35. Rae1 Qd7 36. c6 Nxc6 37. Rxa8 Nd4 38. Qd3 Qg4 39. Ra7+ Kf8 40. Qa3+ 1-0

Another Wireless Cheater

Umakant Sharma was caught with a blue tooth device hidden in his cap when random checking was conducted during the seventh round of the Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee Memorial All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament.

Sharma, top seeded with ELO 2384, was playing with black pieces against International Master Rahul Shetty.

Hindustan Times

Teimour Radjabov - Deep Junior

At least Radjabov was brave to enter the sharp Anti-Meran opening. For the moment it looked like he has initiative. The game was played on 3rd December in Florence, Italy.


Teimour Radjabov - Deep Junior
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 h5 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Be5 Rh6 14. Qc1 Nh7 15. f4 Be7 16. Qe3 O-O-O 17. Rad1 f6 18. fxg5 fxe5 19. gxh6 exd4 20. Qg3 Qe8 21. Qg7 Rd7 22. Rf7


22...Ng5 23. Rxe7 Qxe7 24. Qxe7 Rxe7 25. Rxd4 Rh7 26. h4 Nf7 27. Bxh5 Ne5 28. Be2 c5 29. Rd1 Bc6 30. g4 b4 31. Nb1 Rxh6 32. h5 Rh8 33. Kf2 Bxe4 34. g5 Bd3 35. h6 Bh7 36. Rg1 Rd8 37. Bh5 Ng6 38. Bxg6 Bxg6 39. Rh1 Kd7 40. Nd2 c3 41. bxc3 bxc3 42. Nc4 c2 43. Ne3 Ke7 44. h7 Rh8 45. Ke2 Be4 0-1

Brazilian Chess Championship

73rd Brazilian Chess Championship was held on November 24th-December 3rd in Guarulhos. After winning Torneio Internacional Prefeitura da Cidade de São Paulo just two weeks ago, GM Giovanni Vescovi repeated strong performance to grab the title. GM Rafael Leitão was again half point behind.

Final standings:
1. GM Giovanni Vescovi (2592) with 8.5/11 points
2. GM Rafael Leitão (2601) 8.0
3. GM Gilberto Milos Jr (2563) 7.5
4. IM Herman Claudius van Riemsdijk (2381) 7.0
5. FM Felipe de Cresce El Debs (2325) 6.5
6-7. IM Alexandr Fier (2490) and IM James Mann de Toledo (2376) 5.5
8-9. IM Eduardo Limp (2416) and Diego Di Berardino (2370) 4.5
10. FM Andre Diamant (2396) 3.5
11. IM Jefferson Pelikian (2385) 3.0
12. Jefferson dos Santos Oliveira (2183) 2.0


GM Giovanni Vescovi - GM Gilberto Milos Jr
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nxc6 Qf6 6. Qf3 Qxf3 7. gxf3 bxc6 8. Be3 Bxe3 9. fxe3 Rb8 10. b3 Nf6 11. Rg1 O-O 12. Nc3 Re8 13. Rg5 d5 14. Bd3 h6 15. Rg2 dxe4 16. Bxe4 Kf8 17. Re2 Nxe4 18. Nxe4 Rb5 19. Ng3 h5 20. Rd1 h4 21. Nf1 Ra5 22. c4 Bh3 23. Rd4 g5 24. Kf2 f5 25. f4 gxf4 26. Rxf4 Re4 27. a4 Bxf1 28. Kxf1 Rae5 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. Kf2 Rg4 31. Kf3 Rg1 32. e4 Rf1+ 33. Kg2 Rb1 34. exf5 Rxb3 35. Re6 Rb2+ 36. Kh3 Rf2 37. Rxc6 Rxf5 38. Rxc7 Ra5 39. Kxh4 Rxa4 40. Kg5 Ra1 41. h4 Ke8 42. h5 Rg1+ 43. Kf6 Rh1 44. Rc5 Rh4 45. Kg6 a5 46. h6 a4 47. h7 1-0

GM Giovanni Vescovi - IM Jefferson Pelikian
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. f5


9...cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc5 12. O-O-O Bxd4 13. Qxd4 Qg5+ 14. Kb1 O-O 15. Bd3 Bb7 16. h4 Qe7 17. Rde1 exf5 18. Bxf5 Nc5 19. h5 h6 20. g4 Ne6 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Rhg1 Rac8 23. g5 hxg5 24. Nd1 Rf4 25. Qd2 d4 26. Nf2 Rf5 27. Nh3 Bf3 28. Nxg5 Bxh5 29. Ne4 Rcf8 30. Qxd4 Rf4 31. Qe3 Rf3 32. Qh6 1-0

GM Giovanni Vescovi - FM Felipe de Cresce El Debs
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. Rc1 h6 10. Bh4 O-O 11. a3 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Qxa3 13. Bd3 Re8 14. e4 Ne7 15. Bg3 b6 16. O-O Ng6 17. h4 Qf8 18. h5 Ne7 19. c4 Bb7 20. c5 Nc8 21. Ne5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Qe7 23. Be2 Rd8 24. Qb2 bxc5 25. dxc5 f6 26. Bg3 a5 27. Rfd1 Re8 28. Qa2 Ba6 29. Bg4 Bb5 30. e5 Qf7 31. Rd8 Kh7 32. Rxe8 Qxe8 33. exf6 gxf6 34. Bxe6 Qxh5 35. Re1 Qxc5 36. Bxc8 Qd5 37. Qb1+ 1-0


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