exd5!

08.12.2009
– Ruslan Ponomariov, who in 2002 won the FIDE knockout world championship, has made it to the final of the World Cup 2009. In four rapid chess tiebreak games the Ukrainian GM lost the first but came back strongly to defeat Vladimir Malakhov, Russia, in the next three games and finish with an overall score of 4.0-2.0. Illustrated report.

Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures
Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: tiebreak

Ruslan Ponomariov goes through the metal detector to enter the playing venue

His opponent physicist Vladimir Malakhov

Start of game one of the tiebreak...

... which Malakhov won in 66 moves

Ruslan trying to understand how it happened

The final position in that game

Malakhov won the first game with fine endgame technique – replay it and
learn! In the second encounter it was Ponomariov who turned a bad position in
a Grünfeld into an equal endgame which he proceeded to win – replay
it and learn! He went on to win the third game, and in the fourth Malakhov blundered
– Ponomariov was in the final.

It's all over, Malakhov is out, Ponomariov in the final

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site 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 PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

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08.12.2009
– He was unstoppable: Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, who needed just a draw after yesterday black-piece win, went ahead and beat the elegantly posing Ukainian GM Sergey Karjakin to go through on a 2-0 score. Meanwhile Vladimir Malakhov, Russia, and Ruslan Ponomariov played a second draw and have tiebreak games on Tuesday.

Illustrated report.

Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures
Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: game two

Boris Gelfand arrives with The Legendary Hat

Group photo – without Karjakin...

... who strikes an elegant pose on the side

Not bad, but learn from Sergey – Vladimir Malakhov

Third place goes to chief arbiter Ashot Vardapetian

Deadly dangerous when he is in this form: Boris Gelfand of Israel

Ruslan Ponomariov, draw against Vladimir Malakhov,

A reminder: all photos from Khanty-Mansiysk are by Galina Popova for FIDE

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site 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 PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

08.12.2009
– The London Chess Classic began with a very convincing victory by top seed Magnus Carlsen over second seed and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, who was subtly outplayed by his 19-year-old Norwegian opponent. Luke McShane ground down Nigel Short in a 163-move marathon that lasted seven hours. Game commentary to follow, here's our first picture report.

Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures
Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
More information...

Round one report

Round 1: Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Magnus Carlsen	1-0	Vladimir Kramnik
Luke McShane	1-0	Nigel Short
David Howell	½-½	Michael Adams
Hikaru Nakamura	½-½	Ni Hua
Games – Report

A full report on the games will be provided on Wednesday morning. For now we
provide you with visual impressions of the first round of the 2009 London Chess
Classic.

A full theatre at the start of the London Chess Classic 2009, with the players
in the front row
waiting to be introduced (Nakamura, McShane, Carlsen, Howell, Adams, Kramnik,
Short, Ni Hua)

Waiting for the opponent – Magnus on the stage

The handshake at the top board: Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik

Kramnik in action

British Champion David Howell, who caused Michael Adams some anxious moments

Michael Adams, already a veteran, facing the new generation

The start of what would turn out to be the longest battle of the day

The games under way on the stage of the Olympia Conference Center

The commentary room, where the games were commented by experts for the public

The audience follows the commentary in London

GM Steven Gordon and IM Lawrence Trent broadcast their analysis live on
Playchess

Frederic Friedel and Daniel King working on the live broadcast for the official
site

Meanwhile in the theatre Carlsen kibitzes in the game Adams vs Howell

US GM Hikaru Nakamura got a very promising position against Ni Hua

Inner British battle between Nigel Short and Luke McShane

Nigel Short suffering in his game, which lasted seven hours

Magnus Carlsen ponders his 43rd move...

...which he plays at 7:21 p.m., after which the young Norwegian...

... waits on the stage for his opponent to return from the rest area

Vladimir Kramnik returns and ponders the position after 43.Ne2...

...and at 7:26 p.m. resigns the game

Photos by Frederic Friedel and Pascal Simon in London

From Magnus Carlsen's Arctic Securities blog

The game against Kramnik today was quite important as we’re ranked one
and two in this tournament. A couple of hundred spectators followed the games
in the auditorium. I played 1.c4 and the English opening. The ambition was to
obtain a complicated position but not necessarily an advantage out of the opening.
Kramnik seems slightly uncomfortable in the kind of position that arose. I won
a pawn after a tense middle game, but black had considerable compensation. At
this point he made several inaccuracies and around the first time control his
position went from being difficult to being lost. He resigned a few moves after
the time control in face of mate or big material losses. That evens our internal
score in classical chess (two victories each) and I’ve got a wonderful
start to this tournament!

7th ranked Luke McShane won a marathon endgame against Nigel Short while the
other two games ended with draw. I commented on the game for a large audience
and press after the game. I'm impressed by the interest in the tournament so
far. Wednesday I’m playing white against co-leader McShane. Magnus Carlsen,
London December 8th 2009.

Courtesy of the Arctic
Securities web site

Schedule and results

Tournament Schedule

Links Official tournament site Full details in our previous report All games in PGN The games will be broadcast live on the official web site 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 PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Read Full Post »

08.12.2009
– Ruslan Ponomariov, who in 2002 won the FIDE knockout world championship, has made it to the final of the World Cup 2009. In four rapid chess tiebreak games the Ukrainian GM lost the first but came back strongly to defeat Vladimir Malakhov, Russia, in the next three games and finish with an overall score of 4.0-2.0. Illustrated report.

Sam Collins:
1.e4 Repertoire
Grandmaster lines explained for club players – Constructing an opening repertoire is one of the chess player’s most difficult and time-consuming tasks. Turned off by masses of theory, many players shy away from critical lines and concentrate on trappy lines, ‘universal’ systems, or variations which concede the advantage of the first move in order to get a playable position.
More information...

The FIDE World Chess Cup is taking place in Khanty-Mansiysk from November 20th
to December 15th 2009. It is a seven-round knockout event with six rounds of
matches comprising two games per round, with the winners progressing to the
next round. The final seventh round consists of four games. The time control
is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes for the rest of
the game with an addition of 30 seconds per move from move one. Games start
at 15:00h local time, which is GMT +5 hours = 11:00 a.m. European time = 5 a.m.
New York. The World Chess Cup is an integral part of the World Championship
Cycle 2009-2011.

Semifinals: tiebreak

Ruslan Ponomariov goes through the metal detector to enter the playing venue

His opponent physicist Vladimir Malakhov

Start of game one of the tiebreak...

... which Malakhov won in 66 moves

Ruslan trying to understand how it happened

The final position in that game

Malakhov won the first game with fine endgame technique – replay it and
learn! In the second encounter it was Ponomariov who turned a bad position in
a Grünfeld into an equal endgame which he proceeded to win – replay
it and learn! He went on to win the third game, and in the fourth Malakhov blundered
– Ponomariov was in the final.

It's all over, Malakhov is out, Ponomariov in the final

Results of round six

• Click to replay the
  semifinal games

Schedule of the World Cup 2009

Links Official tournament site – All ChessBase reports All games in zipped PGN Games in PGN: Rnd 1 – Rnd 2 – Rnd 3 – Rnd 4 – Rnd 5 – Semifinal The games are being broadcast live on the official web site 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 PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!

Chessbase.com

Read Full Post »

08.12.2009
– Chess is more fun when you are winning. That is why it has become the gold standard for chess
database users. With ChessBase 10 you have immediate online access to almost five million games,
from the beginning of chess history to the latest top tournament. The new
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order now or read more.

Adrian Mikhalchishin:
Winning Structures
Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!
More information...

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