SIMPLE RULES for SOUND DEVELOPMENT

LOGICAL CHESS
by Irving Chernev

- Begin with 1 e4 or 1 d4, either of which moves releases two pieces.

- Anchor at least one pawn in the center and give it solid support.

- Whenever feasible, bring out your knights before the bishops.

- Of two developing moves, select the more aggressive one.

- Move each piece only once in the opening.

- Move at most two pawns in the early stages of the game. Play with the pieces.

- Develop the pieces with a view to controlling the center, either by occupying it or bearing down on it from a distance, as fianchettoed bishops do.

- Develop the Queen, but close to home to avoid her being harrassed by pawns and minor pieces.

- Do not chase after pawns at the expense of development.

- Secure the safety of the King by early castling, preferably on the kingside.

16th Shell Active Chess

Philippine Chess: NCR Leg of 16th Shell Active Chess

SHELL National Youth Championship - NCR Leg

The MERALCO Chess Club sent its junior players to the SHELL NCR Leg and went home with the bacon as Pau BERSAMINA of La Salle Green Hills Chess Team emerged victorious at the Kiddies Division. Other MERALCO juniors who played were: Juniors Division: Jaron Dellota of Ateneo, Joseph Bersamina of UE, and Joannah Saltorio of NU, and Kiddies Division: Earl Cabugao of La Salle, JC Andan of Ateneo, Paul Casiano of Montessory School, Jerome Saltorio of EARIST.

The kids were sponsored by Darryl Mata, Manny Benitez, Edson Gonzales, Teddy Santiago, Aris Lumague, Joey Santos, Boy delos Reyes, Sammy Campos, Roger Ilano, Wilson Manzano, and Benny Caluen.

16th SHELL NATIONAL YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

Shell Active Chess Formally Opens With The NCR Leg

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation Sustainable Development Manager Chito Maniago (seated, right) and Manila City Administrator Jesus Mari Marzan (seated, left) make a ceremonial move to formally open the 16th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship National Capital Region Leg on June 21, 2008 at SM City Manila. Witnessing the ceremonial move are (standing, left to right) Pilipinas Shell Commercial Fuels & Bitumen Administrative Assistant Laarni Madlangbayan and Chief Arbiter Gene Poliarco.


NCR Leg Winners

Sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, the Shell Active Chess NCR Leg gathered 500 players with Paulo Bersamina of De La Salle Greenhills and Jan Emmanuel Garcia of Ateneo de Manila University emerging as leg champions in the kiddies and juniors division, respectively.


This annual chess tournament that has captured the hearts of young chess players and produced many of the country’s finest grandmasters is backed by Shell Fuels, Shellane, Shell Helix, Shell Rimula, Shell Advance and McDonald’s, in cooperation with SM Supermalls, LCC Mall – Naga, Brickstone Mall – Tuguegarao City and Western Mindanao State University (Zamboanga City).


Ceremonial Move

CHESSBASE: AEROSVIT

Aerosvit 2008: Carlsen wins by a full point
19.06.2008 – Alexei Shirov and Andrei Volokitin scored final round victories, while Vassily Ivanchuk won another game, this time against Pavel Eljanov in a queen ending. Magnus Carlsen held Ukrainian co-prodigy Sergey Karjakin to a draw to take the category 19 tournament by a full point, with a 2877 performance. He will be number two in the next world rankings – if FIDE rates this event.

Aerosvit-2008 Tournament in Foros, Ukraine

The "Aerosvit-2008" tournament took place in a sanatorium complex in the settlement Foros of AR Crimea, Ukraine, from June 8th to June 19th, 2008. It was a 12-player round robin with invited participants. The average rating of the players was 2711.7, time controls 90 minutes for the first 40 moves and 30 minutes to the end of the game, with an addition of 30 sec. after every move. In case of equal points at the end of the tournament the tiebreak is based on the (1) the result of the direct encounter; (2) the Sonneborn-Berger system; (3) the number of won games.

Round eleven report (final)

White	Res.	Black	Moves
Ivanchuk, Vassily	1-0	Eljanov, Pavel	60
Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	Carlsen, Magnus	30
Volokitin, Andrei	1-0	Alekseev, Evgeny	45
Jakovenko, Dmitry	½-½	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	18
Svidler, Peter	½-½	Van Wely, Loek	37
Onischuk, Alexander	0-1	Shirov, Alexei	29

• Click to download and replay

Onischuk,Al (2664) - Shirov,A (2740) [D27]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (11), 19.06.2008
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Bb3 b5 8.a4 b4 9.e4 Bb7 10.Nbd2 Be7 11.e5 Nfd7 12.Nc4 0-0 13.Nd6 Bxd6 14.exd6 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Nc5 16.Bf4 Qf6 17.Bg3 Nbd7 18.Bc2 Rfc8 19.Re1 g6 20.Qd2 Bd5 21.Rac1 b3 22.Bb1 Nxa4 23.Rc7 Nab6 24.Rec1 e5 25.Nc6 Rxc7 26.Ne7+ Kg7 27.Rxc7 Qxd6

White had pinned his hopes on an attach with an advanced d-pawn, which Black has just taken on d6. Now Onischuk is two pawns down and in big trouble. He needs to act. 28.Rxd7? Nxd7 29.Qxd5. The idea was probably that Black cannot capture on d7 because of ...Qxa8. But Shirov has a zwischenzug: 28...Rc8, threatening ...Rc1+ and mate to follow. Black gets the knight on e7 and the score in this game is 0-1.

Volokitin,And (2684) - Alekseev,Evgeny (2711) [C67]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (11), 19.06.2008
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Ne4 Ke8 12.Re1 h6 13.Bd2 c5 14.Rad1 Be6 15.a3 Rd8 16.Ng3 Bd5 17.Nh2 Nh4 18.f3 Be6 19.Ng4 Nf5 20.Nxf5 Bxf5 21.Ne3 Be6 22.f4 g6 23.g4 h5 24.f5 gxf5 25.gxf5 Bc8 26.Bc3 Rxd1 27.Rxd1 c6 28.Kf2 Rg8 29.Kf3 Be7 30.Ke4 Rg3 31.e6 Bg5 32.Nc4 fxe6 33.f6 b5 34.Nd6+ Kf8 35.Bd2 Bd7 36.Bf4 Bxf4 37.Kxf4 Rxh3 38.Ne4 e5+ 39.Kxe5 Be8 40.Rd8 Re3 41.Kf4 Re1

Black is already lost, but now he get mated: 42.Nd6 Rf1+ 43.Kg5 Rg1+ 44.Kh6 Rg6+ 45.Kh7 and mate in a few more moves. 1-0. [Click to replay]

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Vassily Ivanchuk vs Pavel Eljanov in the final round

Ivanchuk,V (2740) - Eljanov,P (2687) [D37]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (11), 19.06.2008
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Nbd7 5.Qc2 dxc4 6.e4 a6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Bxc4 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 Nb6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Bb3 Nd5 13.Bxd5 exd5 14.0-0 0-0 15.b4 Bf5 16.a4 c6 17.a5 Bg4 18.Nd2 Be2 19.Rfe1 Bc4 20.h3 Rfd8 21.f4 Rab8 22.Kh2 Qe6 23.Rac1 h6 24.Re3 Qf5 25.Rf3 b6 26.Nxc4 dxc4 27.Qxc4 bxa5 28.bxa5 Rb5 29.Qxc6 Rxa5 30.g4 Qd7 31.Qxd7 Rxd7 32.Rd3 g5 33.Kg3 Rad5 34.Rc4 a5 35.Kf3 Kf8 36.fxg5 hxg5 37.Ke4 Ke7 38.Rc6 Rb5 39.d5 Ra7 40.Rdc3 Rbb7 41.R6c4 f6

Black is a pawn down and in a dire situation. His last move, 41...Pf7-f6, made things worse: 42.Rc7+ Rxc7 43.d6+ Kd8 44.dxc7+ Rxc7 45.Rxc7 Kxc7 46.exf6. Ivanchuk has worked it all out: this is an endgame he can win. 46...Kd7 47.Kf5 Ke8 48.Kxg5 a4 49.Kh6 a3 50.Kg7 a2 51.f7+ Kd7 52.f8Q a1Q+

53.Qf6 Qh1 54.h4 Qh3 55.Qd4+ Ke6 56.g5 Qh1 57.Qf6+ Kd5 58.h5 Kc5 59.h6 Qb7+ 60.Kg6 1-0. [Click to replay]

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Karjakin,Sergey (2732) - Carlsen,M (2765) [D86]
Aerosvit Foros UKR (11), 19.06.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Qd2 e5 13.Bh6 exd4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.cxd4 cxd4 16.Rac1 Bb7 17.f4 Rc8 18.Rxc8 Qxc8 19.f5 Nc6 20.Rf3 Ne5 21.Rh3 Rh8 22.f6+

Here Sergey offered Magnus a draw, which the latter rejected. 22...Kg8 23.Qh6 Qf8 24.Qxf8+ Kxf8 25.Nxd4 Ke8 26.Bb5+ Kd8 27.Rc3 a6 28.Ba4 b5 29.Bb3 Re8 Now things look a little bit tricks for Black, but Sergey was in a conciliatory mood and a draw was agreed. ½-½. [Click to replay]

The youngsters: Sergey Karjakin vs Magnus Carlsen (Photo Karlovich)

For Magnus this was a satisfying end to the tournament. He started off like something that had been flushed out of the Oort cloud (i.e. in cometary fushion), with intense, fighting games. Then he slowed down, feeling the strain of the long games – and of being the front runner. At least he did not crack and finished with an unblemished record and a remarkable full point lead. Currently Magnus can look back at 21 games without a loss.

Final standings (after eleven rounds)

The center of attraction: Magnus Carlsen after his victory

CHESSDOM: SD-D; NISIPEANU - CARLSEN

Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter - Carlsen, Magnus

Foros Aerosvit 2008
Round 7
Foros

15.06.2008

The participants enjoyed they day off and today the chess battles are to be resumed. The leader Carlsen faces a very dangerous opponent - the ex-European champion Nisipeanu - who as White plays not so fashionable but well prepared lines, that could cause trouble to any chess player. A game between two creative GMs is always fun to watch let's hope this one will be no exception.

1.e4 The Romanian's favorite move.

1... c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 The Sicilian Dragon was revived at the top level event lately by Carlsen.

6.Be2 Avoiding the immense complication in position with Kings castling on opposite flanks after 6.Be3

6... Bg7 7.O-O Nc6 8.Nb3 The standard way to hinder d6-d5

8... O-O 9.Kh1 a6 (9... Be6 is the main line.)

10.f4 b5 11.Bf3 This variation is considered to be harmless for Black but Nisipeanu obviously has a different point of view.

11... Bb7 Judging by the time spent by the Romanian after this move, this definitely is not his home preparation.

12.a4 ( Intending 12.a4 b4 13.Nd5) Clock readings: 1.01 1.20

12... b4 13.Nd5 This is what White is aiming for in positional lines of the Dragon. However, in this situation, it fails to impress. (13.Nd5 e6)

13... Nxd5 14.exd5 Na5 Another sound alternative. Magnus has comfortably equalized in the opening.

15.c3 Nisipeanu sacrifices a pawn to exploit the position of Bb7 but Black is in no hurry to accept it.

15... bxc3 16.bxc3 Rc8 (16... Bxc3 17.Rb1 though compensation still has to be proved.)

17.Rb1 Ba8 Time 0.24 1.05

18.Nd2 (18.f5 is thematic but Black gets rid of his Na5. 18... Nxb3 19.Rxb3 Qa5) The game continuation aims to leave a couple of Black light pieces stranded on the queenside while White attempts to attack the monarch.

18... Nc4 After this simple move White seems to be in trouble.

19.Nxc4 Rxc4 20.Bd2 Admitting the failure of his opening strategy.

20... Qa5 21.Qe1 (21.Qe2 offers more resistance.)

21... Bxd5 (21... Bf6 is solid advantage for Black.)

22.Be2 Qxa4 23.Bxc4 White won an exchange but his position remains difficult, especially having in mind the clock: 0.03 0.47.

23... Bxc4 24.Rf2 e6 25.Be3 Bd5 Magnus has excellent positional compensation for the sacrificed exchange.

26.Rfb2 Qe4 27.Qd2 h5 28.Bd4 Both opponents are playing in blitz tempo, though Carlsen has a lot of time left: 0.02 0.43.

28... Bh6 29.Be3 a5 After preserving the Bishop pair, Black starts pushing the passed pawn.

30.Rb8 Kh7 (30... Rxb8 31.Rxb8+ Kh7 was OK, but the game move is nastier in time trouble.)

31.h3 Rxb8 32.Rxb8 Bg7 Carlsen has winning advantage.

33.Bd4 Bxd4 34.cxd4 a4 The 'a' pawn can't be stopped.

35.Kh2 a3 36.Rb4 a2 37.Ra4 Qb1 White resigned. Nisipeanu tried to take Carlsen away from his familiar opening positions but only tricked himself, as after the harmless opening variation, Magnus got some advantage and was methodically increasing it to achieve a convincing victory.

0-1

CHESSBASE: ASRIAN MEMORIAL

Asrian Memorial: Aronian catches Leko in the final rounds
15.06.2008 – The Karen Asrian Memorial rapid chess tournament in Yerevan ended today with a clear victory for Armenia's top GM Levon Aronian, who defeated Michael Adams 1½:½ in the last two games; while Peter Leko, who had been leading most of the time, lost ½:1½ to Alexander Morozevich. The draw average in this event was 65%. Final report.

Karen Asrian Memorial – Yerevan 2008

The "Chess Giants Yerevan 2008" rapid chess tournament was originally scheduled to be held in Yerevan, Armenia, from June 9th to 15th, 2008. Due to the sudden and tragic death of top Armenian GM Karen Asrian on June 9th, 2008, at the age of 28, the Armenian Chess Federation decided to interrupt the event for a few days, and then rename it to the "Karen Asrian Memorial". This will be the name it will bear in the future. In addition, the rapid open scheduled to have been played in parallel to the main tournament from June 12-15, was cancelled.

Final report

Before the last two rounds of mini-matches on the final day Peter Leko was leading with 7.5/12 points, with Levon Aronian half a point behind. In the first game of the day Leko, with the white pieces, fell victim to an unusual Sicilian and a vicious attack on his king, which was castled queenside. In the meantime Levon Aronian played the following miniature against England's top GM Michael Adams:

Aronian,L (2763) - Adams,Mi (2729) [E17]
Karen Asrian Mem Yerevan ARM (13), 15.06.2008
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 Na6 8.Ne5 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nc3 c5 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Be3 Re8 13.Nd3 Ne6 14.Rc1 Ne4 15.Qa4 Bf6 16.Nxe4 dxe4 17.Red1

17...exd3? 18.Bxb7 Nd4. Adams was certainly not eager to get tied down with 18...Rb8 19.Rxd3 Qe7 20.Rd7 Qf8 (yes, the queen has no other squares) 21.Qxa7. 19.Bxd4 dxe2 20.Re1 1-0.

The winner of the Karen Asrian Memorial 2008: Levon Aronian

MERALCO vs LA SALLE

GM JAYSON GONZALES

Jayson Gonzales fulfills GM requisites


Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:27:00 06/04/2008

Filed Under: Chess

MANILA, Philippines—Now, Jayson Gonzales can really be called a Grandmaster.

Buoyed by his victory in last month’s Subic Open international chess championship and a strong showing in the recent RP-Myanmar Dual Match, Gonzales’ ELO rating breached the 2500-mark required of any GM by the world chess federation, FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs).

Though he completed the GM requirements last year, Gonzales’ confirmation got stalled as his ELO rating in the April 1 FIDE rating list was only 2468.

The 34-year-old Gonzales gained 22 points for topping the Subic Open and added 30 more after scoring nine points (six wins and six draws) in the Philippines’ lopsided 46.5-25.5 win over Myanmar in their 12-round duel at the Lake Garden Hotel in Tagaytay City.

Gonzales, a mainstay of the Philippine Army, only needs to wait for the July 1 ratings to formally join Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio Jr., Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, Wesley So and the late Rosendo Balinas in the elite club of Filipino GMs.

“I’m grateful to Rep. (Butch) Pichay because he didn’t stop supporting me in local and international tournaments to get my GM title,” said Gonzales, coach of UAAP chess champion team Far Eastern University. Roy Luarca

CHESSBASE: CARLSEN - LEKO

Miskolc: Carlsen wins the rapid chess match 5:3
03.06.2008 – Game seven was make-or-break for Peter Leko, and things looked quite promising for the Hungarian GM. But on move 42 he faltered badly, and Magnus Carlsen lashed out with a crushing win. In the final game the young Norwegian was never in danger and drew in 27 moves. He finished with a two-point overall victory. Illustrated report with GM analysis.

Peter Leko vs Magnus Carlsen in Miskolc, Hungary The year’s most prestigious clash in Hungary took place in Miskolc, Hungary. Top Hungarian GM, Péter Lékó played eight rapid chess games against challenger, Magnus Carlsen of Norway. The event lasted from May 28th to June 1st 2008. The arbiter was WGM Zsuzsa Veröci, Head of Communication of the Hungarian Chess Federation. The games were broadcast live on the official site and on Playchess.com. At the end of each day of play there were short press conferences of 10-15 minutes with both players.

Day three report

By GM Zoltán Gyimesi

Leko,Peter (2741) - Carlsen,Magnus (2765) [D12]
Miskolc rapid (7), 01.06.2008 [Gyimesi Zoltán]

1.d4. Although Peter was better with 1.e4 in all three games, in his last white game he switched to 1.d4.

1...d5 It took a minute for Magnus to decide what to play. 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3

4...Bf5 5.Nc3. Peter has little practice in this line, because his only (rapid) game with white in this position was against non other than Magnus a year ago. There followed a6 and after a spectacular fight it was a draw. 5...e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Nxg6 hxg6. On the other hand Magnus had it recently with both colours. 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Qc2 Be7 10.Be2 dxc4 11.Bxc4 0-0 12.0-0 c5 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Rfd1 Rc8. In Carlsen-Anand, Dortmund 2007 they inserted a3, and black drew after a little suffering. 15.Be1 Qc7

Quite a normal position, although it is a mystical question what on earth a bishop could be doing on e1?! 16.Be2 Nce4 17.Qa4 Nxc3 18.Bxc3. The pair of bishops would give White a slight edge, but he cannot keep it for long. 18...Nd5 19.Bd4 a6 20.Bf3 Rfd8 21.Qb3 Bf6

22.g3. Peter was afraid that after 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Bxd5 Rxd5 24.Rxd5 exd5 25.g3 his adventage is not enough. In this case he is mistaken, but I can understand his concerns, since Magnus is capable of holding rook endings with a pawn less, and here he still hasn't lost that pawn. 22...b6. Black has nearly equalized. 23.Be2 Bxd4. 23...e5 24.Bc3 Nxc3 25.bxc3 was Peter's idea, but after 25...b5 I don't think he can do anything with the f7 weakness. 24.Rxd4 a5 25.Ba6 Rb8 26.Be2 Rbc8 27.Rc4 Qb8 28.Rac1 Rxc4 29.Qxc4 Ne7 30.Qb5 Kf8 31.b4 Rd5 32.Qa4 axb4. Rd2 was a strong alternative, but Magnus was already very short on time. Peter still had some minutes, but not for long. 33.Qxb4 Qd6 34.Qb3 Qd8 35.Rb1 Rd6

Magnus has defended all his weaknesses. It is not easy to break through, but Bf3 with Rc1-c4-a4-a8 could have been a try. 36.h4?! A thematical move, but now it merely weakens the g3 pawn, and takes away the h4 square from the rook. 36...Kg8 37.Bf3 Nf5 38.Rc1 Ne7 39.Kg2 Rd2! Finally some activity. Now White should agree the inevitable with Rc2 or Rd1. 40.Rc4?! Nf5! Comes the second piece into activity! 41.Kg1?! 41.Rc2?? would be a terrible tactical mistake, because 41...Nxe3+! is possible and Black wins. 41...Qf6!

And Magnus brings his third (and last) piece into the attack. Now he threatens to jump in with the knight, and everything hangs. Peter realised it, too, but he has to win in order to level the match. And look, Black's king is very vulnerable! Let's mate it on the back rank! 42.Qxb6?? But NO! This was not your time! Black arrives first! Instead 42.Qc3 was the only move, and after 42...Rxa2 43.Qxf6 gxf6 44.Rb4 Ra6 45.Bb7 Ra1+ 46.Kg2 Ra2 47.Kf1 they can agree to a draw. 42...Qa1+! Wow, what a check! 43.Kg2 Qe1. And again, as in the third game, it is precisely the f2 square (pawn), that costs Peter another half point! 44.Rc8+ Kh7 45.Qb8

Had it been White to move... 45...Rxf2+? Okay, it still wins, but wasn't 45...Nxe3+! 46.Kh3 Qf1+ 47.Kh2 Rxf2+ 48.Bg2 Qxg2# much easier and faster? I know, you had just seconds left, and everything wins. 46.Kh3 Certainly Peter would give it up already some moves earlier in a real game, but he played for the public, and they found it very entertaining, that his king run out to the other side of the board. 46...Qf1+ 47.Kg4

47...Nh6+ 48.Kf4

48...Rxf3+ 49.Ke4 f5+

50.Ke5

50...Rxe3+ 51.Kd6 Qa6+

52.Ke7 Qa3+ 53.Kd7 Rd3+

But this is really game over. And with it Magnus has already secured the match. 0-1. [Click to replay]