CHESSBASE: ANAND SIMUL in MAINZ

Anand against 40 breaks his own record

By Johannes Fischer

The Chess Classic Mainz began in style. World Champion Vishy Anand and ten-times winner of the Rapid World Chess Championship in Mainz, opened the event with a simul on 40 boards. This time maybe a bit more than just the usual chess entertainment simuls tend to be. Of course, Anand has his mind on the World Championship match against Vladimir Kramnik, which will be played in October. Doing badly in a simul might not be good for his confidence. But possibly Anand does not even think about defeat and just wants to break another record in Mainz where he already holds so many. Four draws in 40 games is the best result ever achieved in these simultaneous events, which traditionally start the Chess Classic. And this record was set back in 1994, at the first Chess Classic ever – and by no other but Vishy Anand himself.

Anand playing his record-breaking simul in Mainz on Monday

14 years and two World Champion titles later Anand now tries to top himself. In the “Goldsaal” – the “Gold Hall” – of the Hilton in Mainz he quietly moves from board to board to show his opponents what a World Champion can do with the pieces. In the beginning Anand, playing White on all 40 boards, keeps a steady pace, moving in a constant rhythm, which, however, slows down a bit while some of his opponents manage to pose him more seriously problems. But there are not many who are able to do so. The 40 players visibly try their best to outwit the best player they might ever have played against and will ever play against, but to no avail. No matter how hard they think about their moves, how tricky the maneuvers they come up with, the strategies they plan to follow, the World Champion seems to grasp all of them in a moment and to dispel all dreams of victory with quick and smooth play, which forces one after the other of his opponents to resign. And while the simul takes its course more and more boards are dominated by a white Kings on e4, indicating a win by Anand. After three and a half hours of play only about half of the players are still in the game. Only one player managed to achieve the draw.

Even though most of spectators in Mainz are experienced chess enthusiasts, who have seen, played or even gave the one or the other simul, the whole spectacle still amazes. Why does it take the simul player only seconds to find better moves than his opponents? Why is his fairly automatic play, necessary to play on 40 boards at the same time, still superior to the creative efforts of the individual player?

Simultaneous events are chess spectacles. Only few games of them made it to the textbooks and mainly because of some nice tactical trick and unlike the really “serious” events onlookers, fans and journalists are allowed to use their flashlight cameras throughout the simul. Anand seems undisturbed. He quietly and efficiently follows his course, making the moves he thinks best on board after board. And while he quietly and efficiently beats one opponent after the other the fascination of chess and particularly the way Anand plays it slowly unfolds. In the week to come the Chess Classic in Mainz will offer more and faster events than a simul. But the fascination of chess will always be seen.

In the end Anand won 39-1, breaking his own record.

CHESSDOM: RL-BD; CARLSEN vs ALEKSEEV

Magnus Carlsen - Evgeny Alekseev

Biel Chess Festival
Round 7
Biel

28.07.2008

Good day everyone, welcome to the Chessdom live coverage of Biel International. Alekseev won one game against Carlsen back in the 2004 at the junior event, but all of their recent games ended in draws. It is possible that they will continue discussion in the Queen's Indian defence. Enjoy the game!

1.e4!? No QID this time..

1... e5 Nowadays, on the top level e5 is almost more popular than Sicilian defence. The main reason is that White still haven't found clear ways to achieve advantage against Ruy Lopez Marshall attack.

2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6!? Berlin variation, revived by Vladimir Kramnik. It helped him win the World Championship match against Garry Kasparov and other players followed his footprints.

4.d3!? A relatively new approach, adopted from players who hate to play with microscopic advantage in the main line (4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8)

4... Bc5 5.Nc3!? The position now resembles some variations of Four Knights opening, rather than Ruy Lopez. The more flexible solution is to castle and keep the option of playing c3. Carlsen obviously has different intentions. GM Emil Sutovsky liked to play 5. Bxc6 here.

5... O-O It is interesting to point that Alekseev himself played this position with White, last month at the Foros Aerosvit. In the game against Pavel Eljanov, he continued 6. 0-0 and after Nd4 we saw a classical Rubinstein counterattack in the Four Knights. That game finished in quick draw. Mikhail Chigorin played 6. Bg5!?

6.Bxc6!? Carlsen goes another way.

6... dxc6 The pawn structure is similar to the Ruy Lopez exchange variation, but the difference is that Black didn't play a6 and it will be harder for White to prepare d4. On the other hand, Black Knight would be much happier on e7.

7.Nxe5!? Now this is brave! White is picking up the fight before bringing the King into security. Black can play 7...Bxf2+ 8. Kxf2 Qd4+ 9. Be3 Qxe5 or immediate 7...Qd4 8. Be3 Qxe5 9. d4 with dxc5. 7. h3 was safer.

7... Qd4 ( The other capture also looked promising, sample line 7... Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 Qd4+ 9.Be3 Qxe5 10.h3 Nh5! 11.Qf3 f5 12.d4 Qe8 13.e5 f4 With excellent play for Black.)

8.Be3 Qxe5 9.d4 Qe7 10.dxc5 Nxe4 The last few moves were forced. Now 11. Nxe4 Qxe4 12. 0-0 Be6 causes some problems to White, because Queen has to defend c2 and Black Rooks will quickly grab the open files.

11.Qd4!? Probably better than exchange on e4 because now White could castle long!?

11... Bf5 (11... Nxc3 12.Qxc3 Rd8!? 13.O-O Be6 With idea Rd5-Rad8 would have been equal.)

12.O-O-O Alright! This helps White to protect sensitive c2-pawn and fight better for the d-file (King controlling d1). The drawback is that kingside pawns, that are not protected by the King, might come under attack. Still, White could drop one of them if opening of the files will help in pressuring the Black King.

12... Rad8 13.Qb4 Winning the tempo against b7-pawn. Now if 13...b6, maybe 14. Qa3!? touching on a7? For this reason, 12...Rfd8 might have been more precise.

13... Qe6!? A fine small push that highlights some of the weaknesses in White's camp. The main threat of Nxc3 and Qxa2 forces White to do something about it. 14. Kb1 might not be the best way since White is losing some of the control on the d-file. 14. a3 allows b6 since Queen's desirable square is taken away. Most likely, Carlsen will exchange one or two pairs of pieces to reduce Black's tactical possibilities and continue playing on the structure.

14.Kb1!? Carlsen wants to keep as many pieces on the board as possible. He might not have double Rook's exchange at the disposal, but there are other possibilities. 14...Qg6 is indirectly pressuring on the weak c2. (14.Nxe4!? Bxe4 ( but not 14... Qxe4 15.Qxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Bd5 17.Bf4! when White is slightly better.) 15.Rxd8 Rxd8 16.Rd1 Rxd1+ 17.Kxd1 with roughly equal ending.)

14... b5 The threat is a7-a5, and after White takes, Black plays Ra8, Nxc3 and takes on a2.

15.b3 This weakening is serious concession. Nc3 might become loose and White will probably trade it soon.

15... Qe5 (15... Qg6!? is posing bigger problems because g2 is also under attack 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Qc3 b4! 18.Qc4 Qxg2 19.Rhg1 Rxd1+)

16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Bd4 Qf5 18.Qc3 18. Rd2 was also fine. The position is now completely equal.

18... f6 19.f3 Bd5 20.Rhe1 ( The daring pawn hunt with 20.Qa5!? allows Black to gain nice counterplay 20... Bf7 21.Rhe1 (21.Qxa7? Bg6 and Rd4) 21... Bg6 22.Rd2 Qf4 or Rd7)

20... Rd7 Both players will spend a couple of moves on solidifying the position. Alekseev wants to double the Rook and maybe transfer the Bishop to g6, while Carlsen will play Kb2 and move the (in some positions hanging) Bishop from d4.

21.Bf2 Rfd8 22.Rd4 h5 Taking g4 under control and giving some air to the King. The Bishop will probably move to g6 in the future.

23.h3 Is he insisting on g4? It is possible that Black will face the "how to improve beautiful position" paradox that was so nicely explained in books of GM Suba.

23... Bf7 24.g4 hxg4 25.hxg4 Qg5 Some progress here, Queen was forced away from the ideal diagonal.

26.Kb2 Rxd4 27.Bxd4 Qd5 28.Rd1! Exclamation mark only because White is not afraid to go under the pin. With Bishop on d4, f4-g5 might be a good plan. The alternative was 28. Bf2...

28... b4! Excellent reaction. Trying to drive the Queen from this diagonal and swap b-pawn for very important f3.

29.Qxb4 (29.Qe3!? Re8 30.Qf4)

29... Qxf3 30.Rd2 Idea is 30...Qxg4 31. Bc3!? (30.Rg1 allows Queen's trade after Qe4.)

30... Qxg4 31.Bc3 Qc8 32.Rg2 Bd5 The certain pressure against Black King is compensating for the pawn deficit.

33.Rg1 Qf5 Maybe chance for Qb7?

34.Qb7 Kf7 35.Qxc7+ Another possibility was to take a7-pawn and push the passer sometime in the future. Obviously, Carlsen wanted to have his Queen near the enemy King.

35... Rd7 36.Qc8 Be4 The only move! Allowing Qh8 would have been very dangerous. Now Black will have Qh7.

37.Qh8 Qh7 38.Qc8 Qf5 39.Rf1!? Qe6!? (39... Qxf1 40.Qxd7+ Kf8 looks like a draw (40... Kg8? 41.Qe8+ Kh7 42.Qxe4+))

40.Qh8 Re7 The show goes on...

41.Rd1 Re8 42.Qh2 Bf5 43.Rd2 (43.Rd6 allows 43... Qe2 and Magnus wants those heavy pieces on the board.)

43... Re7 44.Qb8 Rd7 It was about time Alekseev to try exchanging the Rooks and soften c2 defence. But this might not be the best way to do it, since White has 45. Rd6 and then Qe2 is met by Rxd7 (which was not possible in the line given above).

45.Rf2 Bg6 46.Rh2 Qe8 (46... Qe4!?)

47.Qg3 Qe4 This is the best square for the Queen. It protects Bg6 and attacks on c2.

48.Rg2 Re7 49.Rd2 Rb7 Odd-looking move, but it doesn't change the assessment. Still dead equal.

50.Qh2 Re7 51.Qb8 Bf5 52.a4 Finally, a pawn is moved :) It is hard to make any progress though, as long as Alekseev is firmly pressing on c2.

52... Bg6 53.a5 Bf5 54.a6 Bg6 55.Qg3 Bf5 56.Rg2 Bg6 57.Rh2 Bf5 58.Qb8 White is trying to sneak in through the 8th rank, but even simple Kg6 keeps Black intact.

58... Bg6 59.Ka3 Bh7 60.Rd2 Bf5 61.Qh8 Qe3 62.Kb2 Qe4 63.Rf2 Qg4 64.Qh2 Bg6 65.Qd6 Qe6 66.Qxe6+!? Kxe6 67.Ba5 The Queens have left the board, and this is now interesting endgame. White might be planning to check on e2, trade the Rooks and play Bb6.

67... Be4 Covering the possible check and taking c6 under protection.

68.c4 g5 It is too early to speculate who will be faster in this race, but Black pawn have a clear road ahead...

69.Bd2 Rg7 70.Re2 f5 71.b4 g4 72.b5 cxb5 73.cxb5 g3 74.Re1 Hoping to block the promoting square. Immediate 74. b6 was also interesting, White sacrifices Bishop for pawn, but his own pawns are very close to promotion.

74... Kd5 75.Be3 Probably immediate b6 was better.

75... Bd3! Exactly, now Black grabs the advantage.

76.Rd1 Ke4 77.Rxd3 Kxd3 78.Bg1 f4 79.b6 f3 80.b7 Rg8! This is the crucial tempo, White has to push c-pawn, but it's too late...

81.c6 f2 82.c7 fxg1=Q 83.c8=Q Qd4+ 84.Ka2 And Carlsen resigned seeing that 84... Rxc8 and 85...Qc4+ is winning for Black. An odd game, where nothing happened for about 30 moves and then White decided for a sudden pawn race. Black turned to be faster because his pawns had no obstacles on the way. Thank you everyone for following Chessdom live commentary, see you again tomorrow at 14:00 CET.

0-1

PICHAY MEMORIAL CUP: NOLTE

5TH PROSPERO PICHAY SR. MEMORIAL CUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

by: admin

posted on : Mon Jul 28 2008, 08:22PM

2nd seed IM Rolando Nolte lived up to his high billing by ruling the fifth Prospero Pichay Sr. Memorial chess tournament at the Surigao del Sur Polytechnic College here Saturday. Nolte, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2522, dumped NM Hamed Nouri in the 8th round and drew with GM Mark Paragua in the 9th and final round to cap his campaign in this four-day tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).
Nolte actually finished in a four-way tie for first place with GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. NM Reggie Olay and Paragua with similar scores of seven points out of a possible nine.

But the Quezon City-based campaigner clinched the title by virtue of higher tiebreak score over Antonio, Olay and Paragua. The four players , however, split the combined cash prizes for the top four places and pocketed P50,000 each. Antonio halved the point with Olay in the 8ht round and then trounced NM Mirabeau Maga in the 9th round to join the winners’ circle. Olay followed up his draw with Antonio by downing untitled Jay Bulicatin, while Paragua crushed last year’s winner IM Barlo Nadera in the 8th round before drawing with Nolte in the final round.
Nouri and Nadera dropped into another four-way tie for fifth to eighth places with 6.5 points. They each received P9,250.

With Nouri and Nadera were NM Alexander Lupian, who beat Vincent Umayan and NM Rusutm Tolenrino; and Jimmy Dano, who bested Ibaryu Adante and Abdullah Unding. Tied for ninth to 13 th places were Henry Lopez, Ben Polao, Bulicatin, Mga and Santiago Lumancas. They earned P3,800. The tournament was held for the fifth straight year in honor of the late father of NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay.

NCFP: 5TH PICHAY MEMORIAL CUP

2nd seed IM Rolando Nolte lived up to his high billing by ruling the fifth Prospero Pichay Sr. Memorial chess tournament at the Surigao del Sur Polytechnic College here Saturday. Nolte, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2522, dumped Nm Hamed Nouri in the eighth round and drew with GM Mark Paragua in th en inth and final round to cap his campaign in this four-day tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).
Nolte actually finished in a four-way tie for first place with GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. NM Reggie Olay and Paragua with similar scores of seven points out of a possible nine.

But the Quezon City-based campaigner clicnyhed the title by virtue of higher tiebreak score over Antonio, Olay and Paragua. The four players , however, split the combined cash prizes for the top four places and pocketed P50,000 reach. Antonio halved the point with Olay in the eight round and then trounced NM Mirabeau Maga in the ninth round to join the winners’ circle. Olay followed up his draw with Antonio by downing untitled Jay Bulicatin, while Paragua crushed last year’s winner IM Barlo Nadera in the eighth round before drawing with Nolte in the final round.
Nouri and Nadera dropped into another four-ay tie for fifth to eighth places with 6.5 points. They each received P9,250.

With Nouri and Nadera were NM Alexander Lupian, who beat Vincent Umayan and NM Rusutm Tolenrino; and Jimmy Dano, who bested Ibaryu Adante and Abdullah Unding. Tied for ninth to 13 th places were Henry Lopez, Ben Polao, Bulicatin, Mga and Santiago Lumancas. They earned P3,800. The tournament was held for the fifth straight year in honor of the late father of NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay.

CHESSDOM: GASANOV WINS CZECH OPEN

The winner GM Gasanov

GM Eldar Gasanov won the 2008 edition of the strong Czech Open chess festival. He finished with 7,5/9, half a point ahead of GM Stocek, GM Chuprov, GM Korobov, GM Vorobiov, GM Chernyshov, GM Gajewski, IM Dobrowolski, GM Brkic, and GM Teske. A total of 44 GMs and 199 titled players from 35 nations competed in the event. Top seeded was GM Hracek and GM Babula.

The Czech Open was a part of a big chess festival which took 17 days, 101 tournaments (chess and many other games), 5830 players starts from 52 countries, 768 chessboards, 100 organizers, arbitres, volunteers etc. Russia won 24 medals (10 gold, 7 silver, and 7 bronze), Netherlands 20 (10, 4, 6), the Czech Republic 30 (8, 8, 14).

The festival also game many norms to players. Piotr Dobrowolski and Jakov Geller got GM norms, Eugenia Chasovnikova a WGM norm, 24 players got IM norms, and 5 players got WIM norms.

Report and photos by Viktor Novotny

Official website: http://www.czechopen.net/index_cz.php

CHESSDOM: TIVIAKOV WINS POLITIKEN CUP

Sergei Tiviakov Wins Politiken Cup

European Champion clinched the trophy on best tiebreak

Six players have shared the first place at the 2008 Politiken Cup, but the trophy went to Dutch globetrotter Sergei Tiviakov on best additional criteria. He scored a full point with Black pieces in a very difficult game against GM Arthur Kogan. And while GM Vladimir Malakhov caught "easier" opponent in the last round, local hero Peter Heine Nielsen had to work hard and beat GM Bartosz Socko to reach the first place tie. Finally, Swedish GM Jonny Hector, known for his sharp and enterprising play, calculated deeper than GM Evdokimov and deservingly established himself in the top pack.

Winner - GM Sergei Tiviakov

Round 10 results:
GM Michael Roiz - GM Yurij Kuzubov draw
GM Emanuel Berg - GM Boris Savchenko draw
GM Vladimir Malakhov - IM Thomas Engqvist 1-0
GM Peter Heine Nielsen - GM Bartosz Socko 1-0
GM Artur Kogan - GM Sergey Tiviakov 0-1
GM Alexei Iljushin - GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili draw
GM Jonny Hector - GM Alexander A. Evdokimov 1-0
IM Sabino Brunello - GM Pavel Eljanov 0-1
GM Konstantin Landa - GM Sune Berg Hansen 1-0
GM Lars Schandorff - IM Tania Sachdev 1-0
IM Christian Jepson - GM Tiger Hillarp-Persson 1-0

Final standings:
1-6. GM Sergey Tiviakov 2645, GM Vladimir Malakhov 2689, GM Yurij Kuzubov 2578, GM Peter Heine Nielsen 2652, GM Boris Savchenko 2578 and GM Jonny Hector 2537 - 8.0
7-15. GM Michael Roiz 2680, GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili 2604, GM Pavel Eljanov 2716, GM Konstantin Landa 2615, GM Alexei Iljushin 2546, GM Emanuel Berg 2592, IM Oliver Kurmann 2394, IM Christian Jepson 2358 and GM Lars Schandorff 2537 - 7½ etc
(280 players)

CHESSBASE: BIEL R6

Carlsen, Dominguez and Bacrot Win
27.07.2008 – All three games reached decisions in round six of the Biel GM tournament. Magnus Carlsen defeated Yannick Pelletier with the black pieces, while co-leader Evgeny Alekseev imploded against Etienne Bacrot. Alexander Onischuk got into trouble against Leinier Dominguez, then turned the game into a theoretical draw, only to lose it when his Cuban opponent played on. Exciting games.

The 41st Biel International Chess Festival is taking place from July 20th - 31st, 2008. The Grandmaster Tournament is a category 18 event with an average rating of 2686. Biel is located in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, on the north eastern shore of Lake Biel. It is a thoroughly bilingual town – called Biel in German, Bienne in French. Since 2005 the official name has been "Biel/Bienne". About two thirds of the population (52,000) speak German, one third French.

Round 6: Saturday, July 26, 2008
Etienne Bacrot	1-0	Evgeny Alekseev
Yannick Pelletier	0-1	Magnus Carlsen
Alexander Onischuk	0-1	Leinier Dominguez
Games – Report

It was the US vs Cuba, the super-solid GM Alexander Onischuk vs the young-and-ambitious Leinier Dominguez Perez, who went on the offensive on the black side of a Grünfeld Russian System. But Onischuk hung on and traded down to a drawn rook and knight vs rook ending. That is where the action began...

Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez at the start of round six

Onischuk,Al (2670) - Dominguez Perez,L (2708) [D97]
41st Festival GM Biel SUI (6), 26.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 a6 8.Be2 b5 9.Qb3 c5 10.dxc5 Bb7 11.e5 Nfd7 12.Be3 e6 13.Rd1 Qc7 14.0-0 Nxc5 15.Qa3 Ncd7 16.Qe7 Rc8 17.Ng5 Nf8 18.Qxc7 Rxc7 19.f4 h6 20.Nf3 Nc6 21.Nd4 g5 22.Nxc6 Bxc6 23.fxg5 hxg5 24.Bxg5 Bxe5 25.Bf3 Rac8 26.Bxc6 Rxc6 27.Bf6 Bxf6 28.Rxf6 Rc4 29.a3 Kg7 30.Rf2 f5 31.Rd6 R8c6 32.Rxc6 Rxc6 33.g4 fxg4 34.Rg2 Ng6 35.Rxg4 Kf6 36.Kf2 Ne5 37.Rf4+ Kg6 38.Ke2 Nc4 39.Ne4 Nxb2 40.h4 Nc4 41.Rf6+ Kh5 42.Ng5 Nxa3 43.Nxe6 Rc2+ 44.Kd3 b4 45.Rf5+ Kg6 46.Rc5 Rf2 47.Nd4 b3 48.Nxb3 Rf3+ 49.Ke4 Rxb3 50.Rc6+ Kh5 51.Rxa6 Nc4 52.Ra8 Nd2+ 53.Kd4 Kxh4

The position, Fritz tells us after due consultation of the endgame tablebases, is a draw – completely and theoretically. But Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez plays on, testing his US American opponent's ability to play it perfectly. 54.Rg8 Nf3+ 55.Kc4 Rb1 56.Kd5 Ng5 57.Ke5 Kg4 58.Kd4 Rd1+ 59.Ke5 Re1+ 60.Kd5 Re7 61.Kd4 Kf5 62.Rf8+ Nf7 63.Ra8 Kf4 64.Rf8 Rd7+ 65.Kc5 Ke4 66.Ra8 Rc7+ 67.Kb4 Kd4 68.Kb3 Ne5 69.Rd8+ Nd7 70.Kb2 Kd3 71.Rh8 Rb7+ 72.Kc1 Nc5 73.Rh3+ Kd4 74.Kc2 Rc7 75.Rh4+ Ne4+ 76.Kb3 Rc8 77.Kb2 Rg8 78.Kb3 Rg2 79.Kb4 Rb2+ 80.Ka3 Rb8 81.Ka4 Kd5 82.Ka3 Nc5 83.Ka2 Ne6 84.Ka3 Nd4 85.Rh7 Rb6 86.Ka2 Kc4 87.Rc7+ Kd3

Dominguez has used 34 of the 50 moves available for his experiment, Onischuk has handled the position flawlessly. Now comes the catastrophe: 88.Rd7?? Allows mate in eight! 88...Kc2 89.Ka3 Nc6 90.Ka4 Rb4+ 91.Ka3 Rb5 and White will be mated in four more moves. 0-1. [Click to replay]

Cuba vs USA in flags: American GM Alexander Onischuk

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Magnus Carlsen was clearly thirsting for another victory and went after tournament tail-ender Yannick Pelletier of Switzerland in his usual active, aggressive fashion. It is amazing how grown GMs crack under this pressure from a 17-year-old.

Yannick Pelletier in this match between Switzerland (41,285 km², 7.6 million inhabitants, 181.4 per km²) and Norway (385,000km², 4.7 million inhabitants, 12 per km²)

Pelletier,Y (2569) - Carlsen,M (2775) [E15]
41st Festival GM Biel SUI (6), 26.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nc3 0-0 10.0-0 Bb7 11.Rc1 Nbd7 12.Bf4 c6 13.Qc2 Re8 14.Rcd1 Bb4 15.Bd2 Rc8 16.Qb2 Qe7 17.Rfe1 Qf8 18.Bh3 Rcd8 19.Qc2 h6 20.Nh4 c5 21.Nf5 a6 22.Qb2 Bxc3 23.Bxc3 Ne4 24.dxc5 Nxc3 25.Qxc3 bxc5 26.Qa5 Nf6

Up until here Yannick Pelletier has been hanging on against Magnus Carlsen's Queen's Indian, by the skin of his teeth. But now the pechvogel (German for unlucky bird) of this tournament, makes a fatal mistake: 27.Qb6? He could have played 27.Rc1 or 27.Bg2. Now Magnus can go into full attack mode, where the lad is ruthless. 27...Bc8 28.Kg2 Ne4 29.f3 Ng5 30.g4 h5 31.Rc1 g6 32.Ng3 Nxh3 33.Kxh3 hxg4+ 34.fxg4 Qh6+ 35.Kg2 Bxg4 36.Qxc5 Re3 [an alternative was 36...Rc8 37.Qa3 Rxe2+ 38.Rxe2 Rxc1+–] 37.Qd4

And thus it ended: 37...Qh3+ 38.Kg1 Rxg3+ 39.hxg3 Qxg3+ 40.Kh1 Bf5 0-1. [Click to replay]

Back in the sole lead: Magnus Carlsen in round six

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Etienne Bacrot sacrificed a pawn on move 15 against tournament leader Evgeny Alekseev, without however showing what compensation he had received from it. For a long time it looked as though Alekseev might win and stay in the lead with Magnus Carlsen. A comfortable draw at least seemed to be on the cards. But then Blunder struck.

Bacrot,E (2691) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2708) [E00]
41st Festival GM Biel SUI (6), 26.07.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Nf3 d5 6.Qc2 0-0 7.Bg2 c6 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Rd1 b6 10.b3 Ba6 11.Bf4 Rc8 12.Nc3 Nh5 13.Bc1 Nhf6 14.Bb2 Qc7 15.Rac1 dxc4 16.bxc4 Bxc4 17.Ne5 Nxe5 18.dxe5 Nd5 19.Ne4 b5 20.Nd6 Bxd6 21.exd6 Qd7 22.a4 f6 23.Ba3 Nb6 24.a5 Na4 25.Rd4 Bd5 26.Bc5 Bxg2 27.Kxg2 e5 28.Rd2 Rfd8 29.Qb3+ Qf7 30.Qe3 Rd7 31.a6 h6 32.f3 Qe6 33.Bxa7 Ra8?

It is not easy to see why the last move is losing, but Etienne Bacrot works it all out: 34.Rxc6 Raxa7 35.Qd3 b4 36.Rc8+ Kf7 37.Qh7 f5 38.Qg8+ Kf6 39.Rf8+ Rf7 40.Rxf7+ Rxf7

Black is a piece up and completely lost. With the two passed pawns on the sixth White could even play a move like 41.Qxf7 to win. Bacrot has an even more convincing finish: 41.Qd8+ Kg6 42.d7 Nc5 43.Qe8 1-0. [Click to replay]

Slipped to third place: GM Evgeny Alekseev of Russia

Current standings

Magnus Carlsen now leads alone, with a 2843 performance that puts him at number two in the world on the live rating list, just a point and a half behind top GM Vishy Anand. Carlsen and Leinier Dominguez are the only players left who have not tasted defeat in this tournament. The tragic figure is Swiss GM Pelletier, who has scored a total of half a point in six games and is performing at a 2305 level. Wake up, Yannick!

CHESSBASE: KARPOV CUP

Four players tie for first at Karpov Poikovsky tournament
17.07.2008 – The event, named to honour its patron Anatoly Karpov, saw firebrand Alexei Shirov take the sole lead after seven rounds, only to lose fairly traumatically to Vugar Gashimov, a soon-to-be 22-year-old grandmaster from Azerbaijan. All other games were drawn, as were all five games of the final round. In the end Rublevsky, Jakovenko, Gashimov and Shirov shared first. Results, games and statistics.

9th Karpov Tournament in Poikovsky

The 9th Karpov tournament took place from July 8th to 17th 2008 in Poikovsky. The average rating of the participants was 2691, making it a category 18 event.

After seven rounds of play Alexei Shirov was in the sole lead, with 5.0 points, followed half a point behind by two grandmasters, Dmitrij Jakovenko and Sergei Rublevsky (who had led the tournament before that). In round eight all games were drawn, except one: Alexei Shirov lost rather traumatically to Vugar Gashimov. That pushed the Latvian-Spanish GM into a cluster of four players, with Gashimov ascending to the same group.

In the final round all games were drawn (two in less than 20 moves), leaving everything as it was on the previous day. The finals standings for the tournament were as follows:

The draw average was 69%, up from 63% after the first seven rounds. White won a total of ten games, Black was successful in a total of four.

In our previous coverage of the event we gave a link to the "Russian Chess" web site, which had English language information. Unfortunately the page had malware attached to it, as a number of readers pointed out just minutes after we had published our report. The page attempted to download code with suspicious functionality. This could include trojans, link to other infected pages, or spyware to spoof the content of a banking site. It need not be the case – there are some innocent pieces of code that may look like malware to the heuristic detection routines of a virus protector, but in the interest of our readers we of course immediately removed the link. The brave and technically advanced amongst you can visit the site – www dot ruschess dot com – and check what is causing the alarms. To the readers who were close to cardiac arrest when their virus or zone alarms popped up we sincerely apologise.

Links Coverage by the Russian Chess Federation (in Russian) All available games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the above sites and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse the PGN games.

CHESSVILLE: BISHOP OFF-SIDE

by IM Igor Khmelnitsky

You could study the following material either by skipping the test and going directly to the lecture, or start by attempting to figure out on your own what is going on in each of the positions I will be talking about and then proceed to the lecture. If you chose the latter, spend 5-15 minutes on each diagram and record your evaluation and move / plan for the side whose turn it is and sample variations. Then compare your ideas with mine. Let me know how you like the test and the lecture. Test yourself All Positions: 1. Check whose move it is. 2. Evaluate position (i.e. White is Better, or Black is Winning, or Equal...) 3. Find the Best move and, if necessary, support it with variations. 4. Answer the question (if there is a specific one) 1. White to Move

IM Igor Khmelnitsky Igor is a winner of many national and international tournaments in Europe and the United States. At various points during his career, he has won individual encounters with many of the game’s best players - including Lev Alburt, Boris Alterman, Viorel Bologan, Roman Dzindzikhashvili, Vasily Ivanchuk, Alexander Ivanov, Oleg Romanishin, Alexander Shabalov, Evgeniy Sveshnikov, Patrick Wolff, and Alex Yermolinsky. In total, Igor has beaten over 30 different Grandmasters. He has been a participant in the Ukrainian National Championship as well as a three times contestant in the US National Championship.

2. White to Move	3. Black to Move
4. Black to Move	5. Black to Move
	Bishop Off-Side The subject of today’s mini-test is a misplaced bishop. The first two positions should be extremely easy for all, except for true novices.
6. White to Move

STOP - Lecture begins below.

#1. Training position (Khmelnitsky). White is winning the bishop for the pawn after 1.Pf4-f5. The bishop is trapped and attacked by a less valuable piece. Similar situations often occur in games of novices when the B pins the N (for example Bc8-g4 pinning Nf3) and then is attacked consequently by pawns h and g (or a and b).

1. White to Move

2. White to Move

#2. Training position (Khmelnitsky). White is winning the bishop once again. This time he plays 1.Pb2-b3 cutting the escape route and preparing 2.Kc1-b2. Unlike in the example #1, here Black has a move before his bishop will be attacked. Yet, there is no move that could help. Similar situations often occur in games of novices when B grabs the pawn on the R file (a or h). Note, that if the black pawn a7 was on a5, Black could play 1...Pa5-a4 2.Kc1-b2 Pa4xb3 3.Pc2xb3. Now the B is protected by the Ra8. Black would have to move the Ra8 to a5, a6 or a7 to free the square for the other rook in anticipation of 4.Rd1-a1.

#3. Training position (Khmelnitsky). Black is able to trap the bishop after 1...Pb6-b5. The direct plan is to run with the king to attack the trapped bishop and win it. The white king can't help the bishop and various attempts to open up the king-side fail as well. Black wins in all lines. Here are some sample variations: 2.Kf4-e3 Ke7-d7 3.Ke3-d3 Kd7-c7 4.Kd3-d4 Kc7-c6, or 2.Pg4-g5 Ph8-h6 freezing the K-side, or 2.Ph5-h6 Pg7xh6 3.Kf4-g3 (3.Kf4-f3 Ke7-d7 4.Kf3-g2 Kd7-c6 5.Kg2-h3 Kc6-b6) 3...Ph6-h5! If interested, please practice with a friend or computer.

3. Black to Move

4. Black to move

#4. This example is from the game Lautier,J - Bauer,C, Championnat de France, 2006. The B on a6 is trapped and is about to be lost. Black is winning. However, you get no points for hasty 1...Rbb6? as after 2.Ba6-c8, the B escapes. Instead, Black played 1....Be8-d7 gaining control over c8. White is losing the bishop for a pawn. For example, 2.Kg1-f2 Rb8-b6 3.Ba6xb5 Rb6xb5 4.Ra3xa7 Rb5xd5.

#5. This training position (Khmelnitsky), is truly amazing in its unexpected simplicity. Looks like White is the one who has the initiative and probably a small advantage. However, after 1...Re8-b8, it is Black who has the winning position. The Ba6 is once again under arrest. White has no good counterplay against Black's plan of sending the king to b6 and then bringing another attacker - the rook on a8, to win the trapped bishop. Examples 3-5 show you that squares a6, a3, h3, h6 are often not safe for the bishop, when the escape route is (or can be) cut off. The pawn b5 was such a barrier in these examples.

5. Black to Move

#6. Finally, the last position is there to remind you that even on the open board, the bishop may have problems finding a safe spot. 6. White to Move

In this study by Reti (1922), White is winning. He has many moves and your head may start spinning when you try to calculate all possible variations. My suggestions would be - when you don't see a knock-out punch, stop for a moment and ask yourself this questions - what would he do if I did nothing? In this particular position - Black has no useful move. All bishop's moves allow fork with the knight (ex. 1...Bh6-g7 2.Nd4-e6+). Another fork is available after 1...Kc5-d6 - 2.Kd4-f5+. And the remaining king's moves allow the pawn to get through. Hence comes the quiet 1.Kg2-h1 putting Black in zugzwang and winning. When you don't see a knock-out punch, stop for a moment and ask yourself this question - "what would he do if I did nothing?"

===================================================================

Summary: a bishop is a long ranged piece and needs open space to show its strength in attack. On defense, a bishop is often a solid force as well. Depending on its placement, a bishop's range is anywhere from 7 (ex. from a1, a7) to 13 (ex. from d4 or e5) available squares. When some of these squares become unavailable, the bishop can get into trouble as in the examples shown above. Memorize these typical ideas. Also, remember, that merely trapping the bishop may not be enough to succeed. Two common options - find a way to attack and win the trapped bishop giving you material advantage (examples 1-5) or start actions away from the bishop so it can't participate giving a virtual material advantage (see example in this article).

Benjamin Franklin on Chess

"Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by
having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to
restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from
chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to
be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for
a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the
solutions to our problems."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, philosopher, inventor, scientist, musician, economist

SHELL's TOP 8 UNDER

Shell National Youth Active Chess Honors NCR Leg’s Top Youngest Player (8 Under)
10/07/2008

Daryl Unix Samantila of Adamson University emerged as the winner of the 8 year-old and under category during the seven-round Swiss System tournament of the 16th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship – National Capital Region Leg held recently at SM City Manila.

CHESSBASE: KARJAKIN - SHORT

Kiev Life Rapid: Karjakin Beat Short 7.5:2.5
08.07.2008 – They worked together in Nigel's home in Greece, and almost got themselves killed in a traffic accident. But Sergey Karjakin, 25 years younger than Nigel Short, completely outmatched him in the rapid chess match in the Academic Puppet Theatre in Kiev, Ukraine. On the final day the youngster won both games to finish with a five-point lead. Illustrated report.

From 3rd to 7th of July, 2008 British Grandmaster Nigel Short, former World Championship challenger, and Sergey Karyakin, who at twelve became the youngest grandmaster in history, played a ten-game rapid chess match in Kiev (Kyiv). The venue was the Kyiv Academic Puppet Theatre, Grushevskogo Str., 1a, Kyiv. this is the oldest puppet theatre in Ukraine, established in 1927, and today pays host to puppet theatres from all over the world.

Day five – final

Karjakin,Sergey (2727) - Short,N (2655) [D37]
Rapid Match Kiev UKR (9), 07.06.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Be7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Be2 Be6 12.0-0 Rc8 13.Rfd1 a6 14.Ne5 Qb6 15.Nxc6 Rxc6 16.Be5 Ne4 17.Qb1 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Rd8 19.Bf3 h6 20.h3 Qc7 21.Qd3 Bd6 22.Rd2 f6 23.Rad1 Bh2+ 24.Kh1 Be5 25.Bd4 Rc4 26.Qb3 b5 27.Be2 Rc6 28.a4 bxa4 29.Qxa4 Rb8 30.f4 Bxd4 31.Qxd4 a5 32.Bf3 Rb4 33.Qd3 Rc5 34.Qb1 Qb7 35.Rc1 Qb6 36.Rcd1 Qb7 37.Kh2 Qb5 38.Qg6 Bf7 39.Qf5 Rxb2 40.Rxb2 Qxb2 41.Rb1

Black should be able to hold this position, if only he finds the drawing move: 41...g6! In this rapid chess game Nigel Short doesn't: 41...d4?? 42.Rxb2 (42.Bd5 was an interesting alternative: 42...Qxb1 43.Bxf7+ Kxf7 44.Qxb1) 42...Rxf5 43.Rb8+ Kh7 44.Be4 (the skewer) 44...Bg6 45.Bxf5 Bxf5 46.exd4 a4 47.Ra8 Bd7 48.d5 Kg6 49.Ra7 1-0.

Short,N (2655) - Karjakin,Sergey (2727) [C78]

Rapid Match Kiev UKR (10), 07.06.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bc5 6.c3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.d4 Bb6 9.Be3 Bg4 10.d5 Bxe3 11.fxe3 Ne7 12.Nbd2 0-0 13.Qe1 c6 14.dxc6 Nxc6 15.Nh4 Na5 16.Qg3 Nxb3 17.axb3 Bh5 18.b4 Bg6 19.Nxg6 hxg6 20.Qh4 d5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Qf2 a5 23.bxa5 Rxa5 24.Rad1 Qa8 25.Ne4 Ra6 26.Qf3 Nf6 27.Nxf6+ gxf6 28.e4 Qc6 29.h4 Qb6+ 30.Rf2 Rd8 31.Rdf1 Kg7 32.g4 Rd2 33.Kg2 Rxf2+ 34.Rxf2 Qe6 35.g5 fxg5 36.hxg5 b4 37.Qh3 Qc4 38.Qf3 bxc3 39.bxc3 Rc6 40.Kh2 Qb3 41.Kg2 Kg8 42.Rd2 Rxc3 43.Qf2 Qe6 44.Qh4 Rc8 45.Qg3 Kg7 46.Rd5 Rc2+ 47.Kh1 Qb6 48.Rd1 Qb2 49.Qh3 Rc1 50.Qf1 Rxd1 51.Qxd1 Qf2 52.Qg4 Qf4 53.Qg2 Kf8 54.Kg1 Ke7 55.Kh1 Kd6 56.Kg1 Kc5 57.Kh1 Kd4 58.Qb2+ Kxe4 59.Qc2+ Kd5 60.Qb3+ Kd6 61.Qb6+ Ke7 62.Qc5+ Ke6 63.Qc8+ Kd6 64.Qd8+ Kc5 65.Qa5+ Kc4 66.Qa4+ Kd5 67.Qa8+ Kd4 68.Qa4+ Ke3 69.Qb3+ Kf2 70.Qc2+ Kg3 71.Qf2+ Kg4 72.Qg2+ Kf5 73.Qh3+ Kxg5 74.Qg3+ Kf6 0-1.

The path of the white queen, and how the black king managed to escape its checks

CHESSBASE: DORTMUND SPARKASSEN

Leko Wins Sparkassen Meeting
06.07.2008 – Peter Leko, who was in the lead after the penultimate round, drew his game in 31 moves. Since his closest rivals, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Jan Gustafsson drew their game (in 22 moves) Leko became the sole winner with his plus two score. The shocker came when Vladimir Kramnik stumbled against Ivanchuk to end in seventh place. Final report.

The Sparkassen Chess Meeting took place from June 28rd to July 6th, 2008, in the Dortmund Civic Theater, with eight players competing in a single round robin. The average rating was 2695, making the event a Category 18 tournament.

Round 7: Sunday, July 6, 13:00h
Vassily Ivanchuk	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik
Loek van Wely	0-1	Shak. Mamedyarov
Peter Leko	½-½	Arkadij Naiditsch
Ian Nepomniachtchi	½-½	Jan Gustafsson
Games – Report

Leko,P (2741) - Naiditsch,A (2624) [C89]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.07.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Bxd5 cxd5 17.Qxd5 Rad8 18.Qg2 Qxg2+ 19.Kxg2 Bxd3 20.Be3 Be4+ 21.f3 Bc6 22.Nd2 Rfe8 23.Bd4 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 f6 25.Kf2 h5 26.Ne4 Bf8 27.Re2 Kf7 28.Nc5 Bxc5 29.Bxc5 Rd7 30.Bd4 a5 31.b3. White is a pawn up, but with opposite coloured bishops the position is hardly more than a draw. ½-½.

The winner of Dortmund 2008: Peter Leko of Hungary

She has picked the winner: wife Sofi Leko

Nepomniachtchi,I (2634) - Gustafsson,J (2603) [C77]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.07.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 h6 9.c3 Be6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Be3 Bxb3 12.axb3 Bxe3 13.fxe3 0-0 14.0-0 Qe6 15.Nh4 Ne7 16.Nf5 Kh7 17.b4 Ng8 18.Qc2 g6 19.Ng3 c5 20.bxc5 dxc5 21.d4 c4 22.Rf3 ½-½.

Jan Gustafsson and Ian Nepomniachtchi analyse a game in which neither had shown a fanatical interest in trying to catch up with the leading Leko

Van Wely,L (2677) - Mamedyarov,S (2752) [D38]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.07.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qc2 h6 8.Bh4 0-0 9.e3 c5 10.Bd3 c4 11.Bf5 Nb6 12.g4 g5 13.Bg3 Bxf5 14.gxf5 Ne4 15.Nd2 Qe7 16.Ke2 Nxd2 17.Kxd2 Qe4 18.h4 g4 19.Qxe4 dxe4 20.h5 Kh7 21.Rh4 Rg8 22.Rg1 Nd5 23.Be5 f6 24.Bh2 Rac8 25.Rhxg4 Rxg4 26.Rxg4 Rc6 27.Rxe4 Ra6 28.a3 Bxc3+ 29.bxc3 Rxa3 30.Re6 b5 31.e4 Ra2+ 32.Ke1 Nxc3 33.e5 Ra1+ 34.Kd2 Nd5 35.exf6 c3+

White should be able to hold the draw in this position, but not with: 36.Kd3? Rd1+ 37.Ke2?? The answer is we haven't the foggiest idea. Time trouble? This just hasn't been Loek's tournament. 37...c2 38.f7 Kg7 39.Rxh6 Kxf7 (or 39...c1Q+++–). 0-1.

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Kramnik,V (2788) [C42]
Sparkassen Dortmund GER (7), 06.07.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.c4 Nf6 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nxd4 12.Qd1 Ne6 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bb5+ c6 15.Nxd5 cxb5 16.Qh5 0-0 17.Nxe7+ Qxe7 18.Qxb5 Rfd8 19.Be3 a6 20.Qb3 Rac8 21.h3 h6 22.Rad1 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 b5 24.Rd3 Rc6 25.Qd5 Qe8 26.Rd2 Qc8 27.b3 Rc3 28.h4 a5 29.Rd1 Rc2 30.Qxb5 Rxa2 31.h5 Nf8 32.Rd4 Qc7 33.Rd1 Rb2 34.Rc1 Qd7 35.Qb8 Rc2 36.Ra1 Qf5 37.Qd8 Qxh5 38.Rxa5 Qg4 39.Ra4 Qd7 40.Rd4 Qb7 41.b4 Rb2 42.Bd2 Rb1+ 43.Kh2 Qb5 44.Qd5 Qe2 45.Be3 Ng6 46.Qf5 Qf1 47.Kg3 Rb3 48.Re4

Black should be able to defend, probably best with 48...Qh1. However at the end of a long battle Kramnik falters: 48...Nf8?? This allows 49.Rf4, which threatens 50.Qxf7, forking the rook and the knight, for which there is no reasonable defence. 1-0.

After a total of eight Dortmund wins a traumatic loss: Vladimir Kramnik [Photos: Dagobert Kohlmeyer]

Final standings

Peter Leko finished at plus two, a score experts predicted would be sufficient to win this event alone. Leko's performance: 2790. In joint second we find Ivanchuk, Mamedyarov, Nepomniachtchi and Gustafsson, all at plus one. Arkadij Naiditsch finished at 50%, which was better than could be expected from his rating. In a startling seventh place with minus one and a 2632 performance we find Vladimir Kramnik, who won Dortmund a record eight times in the past (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2006 and 2007).

Draw statistics

NM BERNADINO

National Master MARLON BERNARDINO played a simul match at the MERALCO with the junior players of the MERALCO Chess Club and the La Salle Green Hills Grade School and High School Chess Team participating.

Joel BILADO of MERALCO Chess Club and Gio MEJIA of La Salle Green Hills posted inspiring victories.