Alisa in the wonderland of chess

IM Alisa Maric, the best American born female player ever, has launched her own personal website. Constantly top female player in period 1989-2000 and winner of Olympiad and European team championship medals, Alisa is nowadays focused on her carrier as university professor in Marketing. Still, a note on her contact page: "Invitations for tournaments with appropriate level and various kinds of promotional activities will be considered with attention." gives us hope that Alisa is ready for a big chess comeback.

Interview: GM Ivan Cheparinov

Just a few hours after Ivan Cheparinov won the 2007 edition of Sigeman & Co he gave a telephone interview for chessdom.com

Q: Hello Mr. Cheparinov! Congratulations on your victory! How do you feel?

A: Thank you very much. I feel ok, I just need some rest and I will try to win my last game too.

Q: Who was your most serious opponent in Malmo?

A: The competition is not finished yet, but the biggest contenders were Hillarp Persson and Jan Timman. Hillarp Persson was closely following me in the table until this round. Jan Timman is always dangerous because he is very experienced. He had a good winning streak in the second half of the competition and he has chances for the second place.

Q: Was there a battle of generations at Sigeman & Co?

A: Certainly, there were experienced players as well as young ones. It is difficult to say which generation had the advantage, but I think the experienced players were stronger at this competition.

Read the entire interview for more about Topalov, Bulgaria, computers, cheating and internet.

Bazna Kings

Romanian city of Bazna will host the Kings Tournament on 15-27th June. The idea is to gather some of the world's best players during the 70's and 80's. Different sources are giving different names, pick 12 at your convenience: Ulf Andersson (SWE 2527), Alexander Beliavsky (SLO 2648), Maia Chiburdanidze (GEO 2510), Robert Huebner (GER 2608), Henrique Mecking (BRA 2565), Lajos Portisch (HUN 2512), Zoltan Ribli (HUN 2580), Andrei Sokolov (FRA 2584), Mihai Suba (ROM 2537), Jan Timman (NED 2545), Rafael Vaganian (ARM 2590) and Alexander Khalifman (RUS).

At least is it clear why Andersson and Beliavsky are canceling Gorenje 2007.

Sofia Mtel Media Partner

Taking the coverage of chess events to the higher level, organizers of Mtel Masters have appointed ChessDom as official media partner. This new website should provide extensive reports, including videos and photos, and further promotion of chess grand slam association. There are around 20 other sections, like chess fun, featured games etc.

Steal from Grandmaster

"During the European Chess Championships in Dresden I stayed at the IBIS hotel. The European Chess Union had made the participants an offer: Full board in a single room in the IBIS hotel during 14 nights for 98 euros a night. Payment could not be done directly to the hotel; the national federations had to transfer the money to the bank account of the European Chess Union (ECU). The ECU would then pay IBIS. This is an important point to understand what happened. Many players made use of this arrangement - of the Dutch Chess Federation GM Tiviakov, GM Smeets, GM Werle and myself opted for it.

Lunch and dinner in the hotel were extremely poor. Both in terms of quality and quantity. Our complaints to the waiters did not have any effect. After about seven days I spoke to the cook. He told me he couldn’t change the situation since he had been ordered to prepare meals for the players for a value of five euros. And indeed five euros average seems like a good indication for what we got, although it could also have been less..."

Open letter: GM Erik van den Doel

Show your Staunton support

2nd GM Norm for Fabiano Caruana

15-years old Italian star Fabiano Caruana has achieved his 2nd GM norm with 7 points from 9 games in the main tournament of the First Saturday festival in Budapest, Hungary.

He won seven games and lost only to top rated GM Levente Vajda from Romania and fellow Italian FM Denis Rombaldoni. Rating performance was 2670!

3rd GM norm for Fabiano Caruana

Illegal move whilst in check

"White attacked Black's knight at b6 with his bishop at e3 but, in so doing, made a catastrophic error. When Black ignored White's threat and allowed his knight to be captured, the way was open for a swift counterattack by Black's Queen (e7>e2) protected by his own bishop at a6.

Before anyone could say "Solzhenitsyn", White was in custody in Red Square Police Station and thumbscrews were applied."

The Spoof


"...and with Putin's approval ratings in the 70 percent range (well over twice those of Bush and Blair), you have to wonder about his chances for success."

The Kenilworthian

Neckar-Open 2007

11th International Neckar-Open with 9 rounds was held on 5-9th April in Deizisau, Germany. The winner (on tiebreak) is Chinese GM Xiangzhi Bu after beating the leading GM Yuri Solodovnichenko in the last round. Xiangzhi Bu also won the last year's Neckar-Open.

Prize fund was 10.500 Euros, first prize 2250 Euros.

The Standings:
1-4. GM Xiangzhi Bu (CHN 2656), GM Radoslaw Jedynak (POL 2538), GM Slavko Cicak (SWE 2531) and IM Marie Rache Sebag (FRA 2479) 7.5
5-8. GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (UKR 2580), GM Sergey Kasparov (BLR 2536), GM Boris Chatalbashev (BUL 2546) and IM Vadim Chernov (ROM 2485) 7.0 etc (240 players)

GM Xiangzhi Bu

GM Yuri Solodovnichenko - GM Radoslaw Jedynak
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Qd2 b5 8.f3 Nbd7 9.g4 Nb6 10.Qf2 Nfd7 11.f4 Bb7 12.f5 exf5 13.Nxf5 b4 14.Nb5 axb5 15.Bxb5 Nc8 16.Rf1 Qf6 17.Bd4 Qe6 18.Bxg7 Rg8 19.Nd4 Qxe4+ 20.Kd2 Kd8 21.Qxf7 1-0

GM Xiangzhi Bu - GM Radek Karol
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 c5 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 0-0 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Be3 d6 9.0-0 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Bd7 11.Qd2 Bc6 12.f3 Nd7 13.Be3 a5 14.b3 Nc5 15.Rab1 Qb6 16.Rfc1 Rfc8 17.Rc2 Qd8 18.a3 h5 19.Bf1 Kh7 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Na4 22.Ne2 Qf8 23.Nd4 Qh8 24.Qf2 Kg8 25.Re1 Bf6 26.h4 Qg7 27.Bd3 Bd7 28.f4 Qh8 29.Nf3 Bc3 30.Rb1 Bg7 31.e5 Bc6 32.Ng5 dxe5 33.f5 Rf8 34.fxg6 fxg6 35.Qg3 e4 36.Bxe4 Bxe4 37.Nxe4 Ra6 38.Rf2 Re6 39.Ng5 Ref6 40.Rbf1 Rxf2 41.Rxf2 Rxf2 42.Bxf2 Bf8 43.Qf3 Qa1+ 44.Kh2 Qf6 45.Qd5+ e6 46.Qd7 Bxb4 47.Bd4 Qf4+ 48.g3 Qd2+ 49.Kh3 1-0

La Roda International

34th La Roda International took place on 4-8th April in Albacete, Spain. 164 people took participation, 14 Grandmasters among them. Prize fund was 10.500 Euros. Games don't seem to be available.


The Standings:
1-2. GM Ibragim Khamrakulov (ESP 2545) and GM Dragan Paunovic (SRB 2524) with 7.5 after 9 rounds
3-5. IM Vladimir Petkov (BUL 2456), IM Ramon Mateo (DOM 2448) and IM Renier Castellanos (CHI 2471) 7.0
6-14. GM Julian Radulski (BUL 2485), IM Vitali Koziak (UKR 2461), GM Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez (ESP 2425), IM Petr Velicka (CZE 2504), GM Sergei Krivoshey (UKR 2475), IM Horacio Saldano (ESP 2422), GM Ruslan Pogorelov (UKR 2462), GM Bogdan Lalic (CRO 2519) and GM Holden Hernandez (CUB 2541) 6.5 etc

GMs Mihai Suba, Azer Mirzoev, Juan Borges Mateos and Mikhail Kozakov have finished at 6.0 points.

Performance Art or Bloody Sport

"A murky, senseless and totalitarian future. A strange story in a world out of phase. A world championship of chess boxing, a violent biathlon where a boxing match and a game of chess follow one another. A ring which looks like a chessboard. In front of a wide screen, a dumbfounded audience who watches a merciless fight between two demi-gods, whose faces are covered with plasters..."



Opening tonight at Café Dune on 18th avenue Claude Vellefaux, Paris. Chess boxing event by Utopiales production (International Science-fiction Festival of Nantes), in association with La Maison d’Ailleurs (Museum of science-fiction, utopia and extraordinary journeys). With the contribution of Casterman publishing house, Next Film photolab, Echecs-Academie.com and LaChainedesJeux.com.

Can't wait to see the report...

Le Chess Boxing

Ajedrez Villa de Benidorm

The XX Open Internacional de Ajedrez Villa de Benidorm 2007 will be held on April 22-May 1st in Benidorm, Spain. 29.000 Euros are for grabs, first prize is 3.000. 10 rounds will be played with time control 90 min + 30 sec/move for the entire game.

Entry fees range between 20-50 Euros.

Grandmasters registered so far: Kevin Spraggett (CAN 2631), Merab Gagunashvili (GEO 2611), Mikheil Mchedlishvili (GEO 2583), Aleksa Strikovic (SRB 2557), Jose Manuel Lopez (ESP 2550), Boris Chatalbashev (BUL 2541), Alojzije Jankovic (CRO 2541), Luis Galego (ESP 2537), Marc Narciso (ESP 2537), Mihai Suba (ROM 2537) ...


Final Benidorm Report

Open Casino di Lugano

GM-elect Mihajlo Stojanovic won't be playing 2007 Sydney Open after all. He sent us this note and details about forthcoming events in Lugano, Switzerland.

The Festival is starting on 27th April with simuls by IM Elena Sedina and Mihajlo Stojanovic. Next day is event with GM Michele Godena, youth tournament and "Cesare Ragazzi" blitz.

Main event "Open Casino di Lugano" will take place on 29th April-1st May with 18.600 CHF (around 15.000 USD) to be divided on 33 prizes (first prize 3.500 CHF).

Final Lugano report

Biel Chess Festival

40th Biel International Chess Festival will take place on 21st July-3rd August 2007. The events list includes Grandmaster, Master (2000+ rating), Main (U2050 rating), Rapid, Simultan, Chess-Tennis, Blitz and Youth (born 1987 and later) tournaments.

Alexander Morozevich (Russia 2762), Judit Polgar (Hungary 2727), Magnus Carlsen (Norway 2693), Loek van Wely (Netherlands 2674), Alexander Onischuk (United States 2663), Bu Xianghzi (China 2656), Boris Avrukh (Israel 2644), Alexander Motylev (Russia 2642), Yannick Pelletier (Switzerland 2602). 10th player to be announced.


Update: Alexander Morozevich canceled his participation due to health reasons. He also wants to prepare for the World Championship which will take place in September. Teimour Radjabov will replace him. 10th player also announced, Alexander Grischuk will play.

Teimour Radjabov

2007 Biel Chess Festival Preview

Website


Round 1, July 23:
Alexander Onischuk - Teimour Radjabov draw
Alexander Grischuk - Alexander Motylev draw
Yannick Pelletier - Boris Avrukh draw
Loek Van Wely - Judit Polgar 0-1
Magnus Carlsen - Bu Xianghzi 1-0

Judit Polgar celebrated her birthday with a win

Brainstore Master Open also started today. Most of the top rated players won their first games, but GM Nikita Vitiugov, GM Mohamad Al-Modiahki and GM Marat Makarov allowed draws against untitled opposition. There are 125 players.


Update, 2nd August:
Magnus Carlsen beat Teimour Radjabov in the last game and qualified for tiebreak match with Onischuk. First four games were draw, Carlsen won Armageddon game. More information on Chessdom.

Final standings:
1-2. Alexander Onischuk (USA 2650) and Magnus Carlsen (NOR 2710) 5.5; 3-6. Teimour Radjabov (AZE 2746), Yannick Pelletier (SUI 2583), Alexander Grischuk (RUS 2726) and Judit Polgar (HUN 2707) 5.0; 7-10. Bu Xianghzi (CHI 2685), Loek van Wely (NED 2679), Alexander Motylev (RUS 2648) and Boris Avrukh (ISR 2645) 3.5

Leon 2007

XX Torneo Magistral de ajedrez Ciudad de León is scheduled to take place on 4-9th July in Leon, Spain. Tournament is knockout with semi-finals and final and players are Veselin Topalov, Vishy Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

Last year Anand won final match against Topalov. Lazaro Bruzon and Francisco Vallejo Pons also played in semis.


Leon chess 2007 coverage on Chessdom