exd5!

26.01.2010
– We have been following the first Super-GM event of the new decade very closely, but our attention and photographic efforts have been mainly concentrated on the A-Group. We should remember: Group B is a category 16 event with a rating average of 2629 – a top tournament anywhere else. To make amends Dutch photographer Frits Agterdenbos has sent us splendid close-up gallery.

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ChessBase Magazin 134
ChessBase Magazine starts into 2010 with three very different tournament highlights. The FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk was once more carried out as a massive KO tournament with 128 participants and saw in Boris Gelfand a victor who threw into the scales against his rivals, who were almost all younger, his experience and strong nerves. The London Chess Classic consisted of an all-play-all with the 3-point rule and saw a neck to neck race between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik. The world's new number one managed to decide the tournament in his favour. And in Bursa in Turkey, Russia managed, despite an early slip-up, to defend its title as World Team Champions ahead of the USA which had been leading in the meantime.
More information...

Wijk aan Zee 2010 – Grandmaster Group B

Photos by Frits Agterdenbos

In the very strong Group B – Category 16, rating average 2629 –
one player is dominating completely: Anish Giri, who has scored 6.5/8 with a
rating performance of 2892, higher than Alexei Shirov (2889), Hikaru Nakamura
(2882) or Magnus Carlsen (2840) in the A-Group. Anish is, at 15, the youngest
player in the B-Group, and it is interesting to note that the youngest player
in the C-Group is also leading: Ray Robson, who is also 15.

Standings in Group B after round eight

GM Anish Giri, NED, 2588, 6.5/8, performance 2892 (!)

Anish Giri, born 28 June 1994, is a chess prodigy and was the world's youngest
Grandmaster as of February 2009, the youngest ever of the Soviet Union/Russia
or the Netherlands (when he achieved his third GM norm, he was affiliated with
the Russian Chess Federation; currently he is living in and playing for Holland).
Son of a Nepalese father (Dr. Sanjay Giri, hydrologist) and a Russian mother
(Olga Giri, hydrologist), Anish was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and speaks
Russian as his first language. In 2002 the family moved to Japan, returned to
St. Petersburg in 2007, and since February 2008 the family have been residing
in Netherlands, where his father is working in a research and consulting foundation
(Deltares). Anish has two sisters, Natasha and Ayusha.

GM Emil Sutovsky, ISR, 2657, 3.5/8, performance 2566

Emil Sutovsky was born in 1977 in in Baku, Azerbaijan (just like Garry Kasparov,
Teimour Radjabov, Vugar Gashimov and Vladimir Akopian).
He learned to play chess at the age of four and won the World Junior Chess Championship
in Medellín in 1996, won Hastings in 2000, and won the 2001 European
Chess Championship in Ohrid, where 143 GMs participated, including Ruslan Ponomariov,
Judit Polgar and Nigel Short. Sutovsky lives in and plays for Israel.

GM Pentala Harikrishna, India, 2672, performance 2660

Pendyala Harikrishna, or పెండ్యాల
హరికృష్ణ in his
native Telugu, was born on May 10, 1986 in Andhra Pradesh, India. Harikrishna
became the youngest grandmaster from India in 2001 and won the World Junior
Chess Championship in November 2004.

GM Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, ROM, 2681, 3.0/8, performance 2531

Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, 33, is a Romanian grandmaster. His peak FIDE rating
was 2707, in October 2005, when he was ranked fifteenth in the world, and the
highest ranked Romanian player ever. Noted for his risky, almost paradoxical
play, he is frequently called a student of Mikhail Tal. In 1999, as a clear
outsider, he made it to the semifinals of the FIDE World Championship by beating
Vasily Ivanchuk in round four and Alexei Shirov in the quarterfinals, only to
succumb to the eventual champion Alexander Khalifman. Nisipeanu won the European
Individual Championship 2005 with 10 points out of 13 games, half a point ahead
of runner-up Teimour Radjabov from Azerbaijan.

GM Erwin l'Ami, NED, 2615, 5.0/8, performance 2728

Erwin l'Ami, born April 5, 1985 in Woerden, Holland, has emerged, along with
Jan Smeets, Daniel Stellwagen and Jan Werle, as one of a new generation of talented
young players from the Netherlands. In 2008 he began working as a second to
Ivan Cheparinov and was engaged to assist him at the Sofia M-Tel Masters event.
Along with Cheparinov and Francisco Vallejo Pons, he served as a second for
Veselin Topalov in the February 2009 Challengers Match against Gata Kamsky.

GM Hua Ni, China, 2657, 5.0/8, performance 2710

Ni Hua, born 31 May 1983 in Shanghai, is one of China's top grandmasters and
is the national team captain. In 2003, he became China's 15th GM at the age
of 19; on April 2008, Ni Hua and Bu Xiangzhi became the second and third Chinese
players to pass the 2700 Elo rating mark, after Wang Yue.

GM Wesley So, PHI, 2656, 5.0/8, performance 2710

Wesley So, born 9 October 1993, in the Philippines, is a chess prodigy who
achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him
the seventh youngest grandmaster title in chess history. Before that he was
the youngest ever Filipino International Master, at the age of 12 years and
10 months. He was last year's winner of the Grandmaster Group C in Wijk aan
Zee.

GM Arkadij Naiditsch, GER, 2687, 4.5/8, performance 2687

Arkadij Naiditsch, born 25 October 1985 in Latvia, is the top seed in Group
B. He was the clear winner of the Dortmund Sparkassen 2005 Tournament, ahead
of higher-rated and well-known players such as Veselin Topalov, Peter Svidler,
Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams, Peter Leko and Loek Van Wely. In 2007 he won
the German national championship.

GM Tomi Nyback of Finnland, 2643, 3.0/8 points, 2524 performance

Tomi Nybäck, 24, is Finland's strongest player. In this year's European
Championship he shared first place with nine other players, but lost in the
first round of the play-offs. At the Chess Olympiad in Dresden last year he
scored a solid 5.5/8 on board one, the highlight being his win against Magnus
Carlsen.

GM David Howell, ENG, 2606, 4.5/8, performance 2680

David Wei Liang Howell, 19, is currently the youngest chess grandmaster in
the United Kingdom, a title he earned at the age of 16. He was born in Eastbourne
to Angeline (originally from Singapore) and Martin Howell. David has a beautiful
younger sister, Julia, and lives with his family in Seaford, East Sussex.

GM Parimarjan Negi, IND, 2621, 4.0/8, performance 2633

Parimarjan Negi, 16, became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years, 4 months,
and 22 days, the second youngest in chess history. He studies in the Amity International
School and has won various tournaments there.

IM Anna Muzychuk, SLO, 2523,

Anna Muzychuk, 19, was born in Lviv, Ukraine, but became a citizen of Slovenia
in 2004, where she is the strongest female chess player. Anna earned the title
of Woman Grandmaster in 2004 and International Master in 2007, and is currently
ranked second in the world in the list of girls up to 20 years old. Over all
she is the number seven amongst all female players in the world. Her younger
sister Mariya (1992) is also an International master.

GM Dimitri Reinderman, NED, 2573, 2.5/8, performance 2487

Dimitri Reinderman, 37, is a vegetarian, who says that chess, magic, cats,
movies and music are the main elements of his life. He is ranked number ten
in the Netherlands.

GM Varuzhan Akobian, USA, 2628, 2.0/8, performance 2438

Varuzhan Akobian, 27, is originally from Armenia but now resides in Los Angeles.
He became an IM at age 16 and a GM at 20. He won the World Open tournament in
Philadelphia on three separate occasions. In 2006 he tied for first in the San
Marino tournament with a performance rating of 2796. He qualified for the Chess
World Cup 2007, but was eliminated in the first round. Currently he is the fifth
highest rated player in the USA. In 2007 Akobian was featured on MTV's True
Life documentary series, in an episode titled "I'm a Genius". His
name was used in a publicity
stunt involving a six million dollar "world championship" match
in Las Vegas.

All photos and information by courtesy of ChessVista
– Frits Agterdenbos.
Many more pictures are available on this web site.

Frits Agterdenbos, b. 1960, lives in Heemstede, not far from Amsterdam, and was one of the leading chess photographers in the eighties. From 1979–1991 his pictures appeared in several magazins, including New in Chess, Schakend Nederland, Inside Chess, BCM, Chess, Europe Echecs and Schach. In 1984 his Dutch book “64 Schaakportretten” (in English “64 Chess Portraits”) was published. In 1991 he “retired” as a chess photographer to finish his studies and in 1997 he received a diploma as an insurance mathematician (actuary). Since 1998 he has been a self-employed, working under the company name “Acturix”, which is his actuarial consultancy firm. Now Frits is back as a chess photographer! In January 2005 he picked up his old passion, and publications show he still knows how to handle his camera. He combines his insurance job and chess photography with being a husband and a father of the beautiful Elena (seven years old). You will find his photos on Chessbase.com, Schaakbond.nl, Schaaklog.nl and Schakers.info, and many more websites and magazines. You can contact him under f.agterdenbos (at) acturix.com.

Portraits of the Group C players coming soon...

Links Official web site All games in PGN: Group A – Group B – Group C All ChessBase reports on Wijk aan Zee 2010 + reports 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 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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26.01.2010
– He has two victories over Bobby Fischer, two against Tigran Petrosian and two against Mikhail Tal. Friðrik Ólafsson of Iceland earned his GM title 52 years ago. In 1978 he succeeded Max Euwe as President of FIDE, where he served until he was replaced by Florencio Campomanes in 1982. Ten days ago he played a brilliancy in a rapid chess event. Today Fridrik celebrates his 75th birthday.

Advertisement

:
ChessBase Magazin 134
ChessBase Magazine starts into 2010 with three very different tournament highlights. The FIDE World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk was once more carried out as a massive KO tournament with 128 participants and saw in Boris Gelfand a victor who threw into the scales against his rivals, who were almost all younger, his experience and strong nerves. The London Chess Classic consisted of an all-play-all with the 3-point rule and saw a neck to neck race between Magnus Carlsen and Vladimir Kramnik. The world's new number one managed to decide the tournament in his favour. And in Bursa in Turkey, Russia managed, despite an early slip-up, to defend its title as World Team Champions ahead of the USA which had been leading in the meantime.
More information...

Fridrik Olafsson (or Friðrik Ólafsson in Icelandic orthography)
was born January 26, 1935 in Reykjavík, Iceland. He won the Icelandic
Championship in 1952 and the Scandinavian Championship a year later, establishing
himself as the strongest Icelandic player of his generation.

His first great international success was a shared first with Viktor Korchnoi
at Hastings 1955-56. He competed in the World Championship cycle and finished
5th/6th at the 1958 Portoro Interzonal tournament. That gave him the grandmaster
title and a place in the 1959 Candidates Tournament.

A commomerative 2008 stamp for 50 years as a GM. It shows the final position
of an important game:

Olafsson,Fridrik - Fischer,Robert James [D38]
Portoroz Interzonal Portoroz (11), 1958
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.e3 Nc6 9.Rc1
c4 10.Be2 Be6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nd2 Be7 13.b3 g5 14.Bg3 Ba3 15.Rc2 Nb4 16.bxc4 Nxc2
17.Qxc2 dxc4 18.Nb5 Bb4 19.Nc7 Bxd2 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Bxc4 Qe8 22.Qxd2 Ne4 23.Qd3
Nxg3 24.hxg3 Rf6 25.Qe4 Rc8 26.Bb3 Qd7 27.Rd1 Re8 28.f4 Qh7 29.Qe5 Qf5 30.g4
Qxe5 31.dxe5 Rf7 32.f5 Rc7 33.Rd6 Rc5 34.Bxe6+ Kf8 35.Bb3 Rcxe5 36.Rxh6 Rxe3
37.Rg6 R8e4 38.Rxg5 Rg3 39.Rg8+ Ke7 40.g5 Re2 41.Bd5 Kd6 42.Bf3 Rxa2 43.f6 Ke6
44.Re8+ 1-0. [Click to replay]

Fridrik Olafsson facing Bobby Fischer in Bled 1961. He lost this game, but
had beaten
Fischer in the 1958 Portoro Interzonal and in the 1959 Candidates Tournament
in Yugoslavia

Fridrik also played in the following Interzonal (Stockholm 1962) but failed
to qualify for the Candidates. Among his best tournament results we find a shared
first with Ljubomir Ljubojevic at Wijk aan Zee 1976, ahead of Mikhail Tal.

Candidacy poster of Fridrik Olafsson in 1978

In 1978, Fridrik Olafsson succeeded Max Euwe as President of FIDE, where he
served a single term, being replaced by Florencio Campomanes in 1982.

At home he was appointed Secretary to the Icelandic Parliament, having worked
as a lawyer at the Icelandic Ministry of Justice before becoming a chess professional
in 1974. Fridrik is married and has two adult daughters.

A portrait of Fridrik Olafsson by painter Einar Hákonarson

In 2003 Fridrik Olafsson won a rapid match against fellow veteran Bent Larsen
by 5-3

Here's a game played by Fridrik Olafsson just a couple of weeks ago:

Olafsson,Fridrik - Kjartansson,Gudmundur [D37]
CCP Rapid, 09.01.2010
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c5 8.cxd5
Nxd5 9.Bg3 cxd4 10.exd4 N7f6 11.Bd3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 b6 13.Qe2 Bb7 14.0-0 Qd5 15.c4
Qa5 16.Ne5 Rad8 17.Rcd1 Nd7 18.d5 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Bd6??

20.Bxh7+! Kxh7 21.Qh5+ Kg8 22.Bxg7! Kxg7 23.Qg5+ Kh7 24.Rd3 Qa3 25.Rxa3
Bxa3 26.Qh4+ Kg7 27.Qg3+ Kf6 28.Qxa3 exd5 29.Qf3+ 1-0. [Click
to replay]

Distribution of the games played by Fridrik Olafsson (total 1013
games)

Information and pictures provided by Einar S. Einarsson

Chessbase.com

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