21.03.2010 – Did you know
that when White plays 5.Nf3
in the French (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6
4.e5 Nfd7) that indicates he is
going to play against Blacks
hanging pawns on e6 and d5? It is strategical knowledge of this kind that
Nigel Davies presents on his new DVD on the French Defence. Bob Long has gone
through the entire course and regards it 'the most useful DVD I have seen in a
long time'. Buy it
now or read Bobs review with sampler.
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Alexej Shirov :
Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabovs victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously.
Nuts and Bolts Chess Strategy!
Nigel Davies: French Defence Strategy - reviewed by Bob Long
Nigel Davies new DVD
French Defence Strategy
is very reminscent of the
material in am reading in the upcoming Purdy book I am
about to publish.
In Purdys book he spends
quite a few pages on pawns
in front of the King, isolated
pawns, hanging pawns, and
so on. When proofing I have
to concentrate (no watching
DVDs, listening to music, talking
on the phone and so on).
When I concentrate I learn or
understand what I have read
before, much more.
Hence, as I was watching
Nigels new DVD the thought
returned, Ive just been reading
this! This IS how strong
players think. What I need to
do is inculcate this into my
chess play instead of paying
due attention 85% of the time.
I would win MORE games
against weaker players and
definitely some more games
against stronger players who
automatically know this
stuff.
Why would I win more?
Because as the stronger player
saw that I could see his shenanigans
and nuances almost
as well as he, he would have
to play harder which often
entails RISK! Risk is a twoedged
sword, even for stronger
players.
I mentioned on my Blog
that I would spend the weekend
looking at this video and
I have, though not all at once
(then I become sleepy).
There are so many good
things I dont want to overlook
any of them:
There are several Karpov
games (using the Tarrasch).
In one Karpov takes W. Uhlmann
apar t in an isolated
d‑pawn game and in the very
next, IM Sergio Tatai gives
Korchnoi an isolated d-pawn
from an Exchange French and
he gets clobbered in 14 moves
with one of the most devastating
K-side attacks you will ever
have the chance to play over.
In those games where one
side wins (there are a few
draws) Davies shows us improvements
for the other side.
In the French did you know
that when White plays 5.Nf3
(1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6
4.e5 Nfd7) that indicates he is
going to play against Blacks
hanging pawns on e6 and
d5 (when Black goes c5 and
f6)? Davies fills us up wiht
these little nuances such as this
one from Spassky-Petrosian,
1966 WCCM.
Other subjects also covered
are the Little Center and the
Fort Knox variation. For those
who cant stomach 2.d4, he
gives as his last game Romanishin-
Bareev, 1994 where 2.d3
is played.
There are 26 video clips on
this four hour DVD. Davies
moves right along, sometimes
too quickly (as I am still absorbing),
but then we can always
pause and think about
it. He gets a few jokes in here
and there, and yes, I did watch
and listen to ALL clips. This,
perhaps, is the most useful
(for me) DVD I have seen in a
long time.
Even though the subject is
the French Defense, many of
these ideas are applicable elsewhere
when it comes to pawn
structures.
The games are well chosen
as they are very instructive;
games I should know, but do
not. (Maybe the only game I
know is Botvinnik-Capablanca
1938 AVROjust kidding.)
Chess Reports #101
I like most of the games but
Planinc-Timman, 1974 is terrific.
It seems reminiscent of Andy
Reas stuff in Chess on the
Ledge. Another wow(!) game
was Spassky-Korchnoi 1977
with tripled pawns.
If you play White (and I
have) there are some gem ideas
here also, but again Davies offers
tips on improve Black play
but they would have great surprise
value even in a serious
contest.
Davies says he plays the
French now and then but may
play it more in the future (is
this consumption for his future
opponents?). In 2009 he
takes Lawrence Trent apart at
the Staunton Memorial.
One reason I recommend this DVD
is that Mr. Davies knows quite
a bit about the French.
If you really want to get the
most out of this DVD, I really
recommend watching in 2-4
times andplaying what youve
learned. Davies had done an
excellent job of explaining the
French.
21.03.2010 – We all have our tactical
weaknesses, some more than others. So we can actually never get enough tactical
training. And when that is offered in entertaining form, all the better. Hartmut
Riedel, born 1965, tries to teach children not to leave their queen en prise.
The teacher from Berlin has made his own selection of games from the Corus
Tournament. The tasks are packed full of with and irony, but don't let yourself
be distracted by the free and easy presentation. Everything can be solved, even
if all the solutions were not played over the board in Wijk aan Zee. To a somewhat different retrospective
on Wijk aan Zee.
Advertisement
Alexej Shirov :
Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabovs victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously.
20.03.2010 – Apparently nothing can stop the world's highest-ranked player. In round six of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament Magnus Carlsen dispatched Boris Gelfand, who had won his four previous games, with a 2-0 score. Carlsen is now alone in the lead. Dutch GM Jan Smeets won his first game in Nice against Vladimir Kramnik in blindfold. Round six report with video interviews.
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Alexej Shirov :
Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabovs victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously.
The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association
Max Euwe in Monaco, is taking place from March 13 (first round) to March 25
(last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on
the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize fund is € 216,000.
Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid
sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 hrs. The fourth session finishes
around 20.00 hrs. Note: the final round on March 25 starts at 12.30 hrs. March
17 and 22 are rest days. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player.
With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock,
with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added.
Fourth 2-0 knock-out brings Magnus Carlsen back on top again
Blindfold Chess Round six
Rapid Chess Round six
Ivanchuk-Ponomariov
½-½
Ponomariov-Ivanchuk
½-½
Svidler-Grischuk
0-1
Grischuk-Svidler
½-½
Karjakin-Dominguez
1-0
Dominguez-Karjakin
0-1
Aronian-Gashimov
1.0
Gashimov-Aronian
½-½
Smeets-Kramnik
1-0
Kramnik-Smeets
1-0
Carlsen-Gelfand
1-0
Gelfand-Carlsen
0-1
In Round six of the Amber Tournament, Magnus Carlsen regained the lead in the
overall standings. In a gripping clash, the Norwegian defeated Boris Gelfand
2-0 and overtook former leader Vasily Ivanchuk from Ukraine, who had to settle
for two draws against his compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov. The gap between the
front-runners is widening. Third place is shared by Boris Gelfand, Alexander
Grischuk and Vladimir Kramnik, two full points behind Carlsen and one and a
half points behind Ivanchuk. After twelve games Carlsen has not yet drawn a
single game, winning nine and losing three.
Carlsen-Gelfand: Magnus Carlsen was pleased with the way he
had played the blindfold game against Boris Gelfand. He obtained nothing from
the opening, but said he enjoyed working to create something from nothing. The
‘something’ was in the air when he finally could play 37.Ne5 and
when that same knight struck on g6 one move later it was clear that White was
on to something. The game was essentially decided when Carlsen played 41.g4,
after which he assessed the position as ‘very bad to lost for Black’.
Ten moves later he concluded the game with mate and notched up his first point
after his winning streak was interrupted in yesterday’s rapid game. ‘Six
more to go’, he grinned.
The rapid game also ended in a win for Carlsen, but what a fight it was. In
a King’s Indian he ended up with a worse position and could only breathe
again when Gelfand made a mistake with 24.Nxc5, giving Black a nice outpost
for his knight on d6. The remainder of the game was a demonstration of Carlsen’s
magnificent fighting spirit. Many a player would have been tempted to go for
a draw when it was there for the taking, but he rather played for a win skirting
the precipice. Gelfand certainly missed various ways to draw, but Carlsen’s
courage prevailed when under great pressure he managed to deal the decisive
blow.
36...Ke8. Avoiding the repetition, playing for a win. 37.Qg6+
Rf7 38.Qg8+? A miscalculation. 38.Ra8+ would have held the draw. 38...Ke7
39.Qg5+ Kf8 40.Ra8+ Nc8 41.Rxc8+ Bxc8 42.Qd8+ Kg7 43.Qg5+ Kh7 44.Qxh5+ Kg8 45.Qg5+
Rg7 46.Qd8+ Kh7.
No more checks. 47.Qxc8 Rf7 48.Qxg4 Rf1+ 49.Bxf1 Qxg4 50.d6 Qf3+ 0-1.
Aronian-Gashimov: Levon Aronian arrived for his blindfold
game against Vugar Gashimov in an impeccable white suit, white shoes, and black
shirt to match the white jacket and black shirt of his opponent. After the game
he admitted jokingly that this had been part of his strategy: "That’s
why I only put it on shortly before the game. I didn’t want him to see
my novelty." As expected Gashimov defended himself with his pet Benoni,
but apparently he wasn’t very familiar with the old sideline that Aronian
played. "And it’s a big disadvantage in rapid and blindfold if you’re
not familiar with a line and your opponent is", the Armenian explained.
After 38 moves Gashimov threw the towel.
In the rapid game Aronian defended with the Berlin Defence, which these days
is more often called the Berlin Wall. The opening served him well, as Aronian,
who lives in Berlin, was better throughout the game. In the end it was not enough
when Gashimov forced a draw by a repetition of moves.
A beaming Jan Smeets walked into the hospitality lounge after
he had won the blindfold game against Vladimir Kramnik. Not only had he beaten
the former world champion in an excellent game, he had also won his first game
in his Amber debut. As in their game in Wijk aan Zee, Kramnik relied on the
Pirc Defence. That game he won, but this time things went different. Smeets
had chosen a sharp line, and although he admitted that he didn’t remember
all the ins and outs he felt at ease. Kramnik tried to invade the white position
with an avalanche of pieces, but he couldn’t avoid that his knights became
unstuck. As a result White won a piece for a couple of pawns, but this compensation
was not enough for Black. Smeets’ main concern was that he would end up
in this traditional time-trouble and blunder something. The time-trouble he
couldn’t avoid entirely, but for the rest he kept a clear head, picked
up a pawn here and there and forced Kramnik’s surrender on move 41.
Kramnik hit back in the rapid game, but only after a gritty fight from both
sides. The opening put Black under pressure, although Smeets didn’t worry
too much. Looking for a speedy kill Kramnik sacrificed a piece with 32.Bxh6,
but it was questionable if he objectively made much progress with this investment.
He did when Smeets steered for an endgame with 34…Qe8, wrongly assessing
the following developments. The Dutch grandmaster had assumed that his a-pawn
would be a strong trump, but when it didn’t move that fast, his opponent’s
pawns became truly menacing.
Karjakin-Dominguez: Sergey Karjakin and Leineir Dominguez
discussed the merits of a Be3-Najdorf with Black playing an early h5 in their
blindfold game. This discussion will no doubt continue in future games, but
once the principled fight between Black’s queenside ambitions and White’s
kingside ambitions came to a head, the pawn on h5 was more of a liability than
an asset. The game turned sour for Black when he played 29…Nxc6? Which
soon had him in insurmountable problems. Instead, he might have fought on with
29…Nxg4 30.Qxg4 f5 31.Re2 fxg4 32.Rxg2.
The rapid game saw an Exchange Slav in which Karjakin tried to stir up complications.
His attempts bore fruit when Dominguez erred with19.h3, allowing the strong
19…Bb5. The Cuban took the wisest decision and sacrificed the exchange,
leaving Black with a slightly better position, but no tangible advantage. But
the game was far from over and in mutual time-trouble Karjakin kept looking
for his chances. In the end he was successful when Dominguez let himself be
tricked and dropped a piece.
Sergey Karjakin - Russia, Elo rating: 2725, World ranking: 21, born January
12, 1990, Amber highlights: In his second Amber in 2009 he finished in 7th place. [Photo John Nunn]
Sergey Karjakin has come to Nice for the third time, but it is the first time
that he is playing under the Russian flag (and as a married man!). Last year
the Ukrainian-born grandmaster made a remarkable career move when he decided
that henceforth he’d represent Russia. With the support of the Russian
Chess Federation he moved to Moscow and he also ‘completed’ his
team. Assisted by Kasparov’s former coach Yury Dokhoian and Russia’s
team coach Alexander Motylev, Karjakin can now safely be called one of the best
organized grandmasters around.
Although he’s ‘already’ twenty years old and may call himself
by rights a top grandmaster for quite some time already, Karjakin often continues
to be billed as the youngest grandmaster of all time. Which is understandable,
as he holds a unique record. He was only twelve years and seven months old when
in 2002 he earned the highest chess title.
Karjakin was born in Simferopol in the Crimea on January 12, 1990, and he was
five years old when he learned to play chess. He won countless junior championships
in his own country and in 2001 he became U-12 Junior World Champion in Oropesa
del Mar, Spain. As undeniable proof of his countrymen’s respect for his
chess strength, Ruslan Ponomariov invited the 12-year-old prodigy as a second
for his World Championship match against Vasily Ivanchuk in the winter of 2002.
Within a few years’ time Karjakin has grown into an experienced grandmaster.
In 2004 he was one of the pillars of the Ukrainian team that claimed gold at
the Calvia Olympiad. His score of 6,5 out of 7 on Board 4 was the best individual
performance of the event. Two years later, in Turin, the Ukrainians had to settle
for a more modest result, but Karjakin again chalked up one of the highest scores.
His best individual result so far he had last year in Wijk aan Zee where he
won the Corus tournament. At the end of 2009 he also played excellent chess
in the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Before he was knocked out in the semi-finals
by Gelfand, he eliminated a.o. Timofeev, Navara and Mamedyarov.
Karjakin made his Amber debut two years ago thanks to his best score on the
Rising Stars team at the 2007 NH Chess Tournament in Amsterdam. His first performance,
ninth overall, was decent, but it came as no surprise that he improved on that
result last year when he finished in 7th place. No doubt the ambitious youngster
is aiming for more this time.
Kramnik on his new openings and tries in Amber [video reports by Europe
Echecs]
Kramnik on Karpov's candidacy for FIDE presidency, and the state of the
chess world
The beach front in Nice – it will come as a shock to some that the
town is pronounce
"Niece" (as in the daughter of a sibling). On the other hand it is
really a very nice place.
A lone swimmer in water temperatures of 14°C (57°F)
The city and its yacht harbour – the area of today’s Nice is believed
to be among
the oldest human settlements in the world.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server .
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!
20.03.2010 – In our previous
report we gave you the gold medal winners of the European Championship.
On Thursday the silver and bronze medals in the open and womens groups were
played out. The statistics of the event are impressive: 566
players from 41 countries, 440 players with titles, 196 of them grandmasters. Of the 3,078 games 2,088 or 68% were decisive, only 32%
drawn. Final report.
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Alexej Shirov :
Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 There are few opening systems which have been undergoing such a fast and furious renaissance as the 6.Bg5 Variation of the Najdorf System. Inspired by Radjabovs victories over Anand and Karjakin in 2006, a great number of games have been played since then, meaning that the theory has developed enormously.
This event took place from March 6th to 18th 2010 in Rijeka, Croatia. The championship
was an eleven round Swiss tournament with a playing rate of 90 minutes for 40
moves, 30 minutes for the rest of the game, and an increment of 30 seconds per
move starting from move one.
Press release
European Champions crowned in Rijeka
On Thursday a medal ceremony for the 11th European Individual Men and Women's
Chess Championship was held in Rijeka. The most successful players were awarded
by the President of the European Chess Union Boris Kutin, the President of the
Croatian Chess Federation Stjepan Šturlan, the Prefect of the Primorsko-Goranska
County Zlatko Komadina and the Deputy Mayor željko Jovanovic.
The winners: Jobava (Silver), Nepomniachtchi (Gold), Timofeev (Bronze)
At the men's competition the gold was won by the the 20-year old Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi with excellent score of 7 wins and 4 draws,
earning 9 points and over 25 rating points. After the rapid tie-breaks the silver
was won by Georgian Baadur Jobava while Artyon Timofeev won the third place.
The best placed Croatian representative is Hrvoje Stevic at 65th place with
7 points.
Women's medalists: Cmilyte (Silver), Cramling (Gold) and Socko (Bronze)
The title of the European Champion at the women's tournament was won by Sweidsh
grandmaster Pia Cramling who recorded 8 wins with 2 draws and
1 defeat at this Championship and 19 rating points. Lithuanian Victoria Cmilyte
won the silver, and for the bronze medal there were 5 player playing rapid tie-breaks.
After 3 rounds, the 3rd place was won by the Polish Monika Socko.
23 players qualified for the World Cup and 14 female players qualified for
the World Championships. It is important to mention that the Championship was
followed via internet by more than two milion viewer from around the world,
while some 1,500 visitors passed through the sport's hall of the Centre Zamet.
All this proves that this is a record Championship which is also supported by
the players that have proclaimed this event as the best organized chess championship
ever. Even the ECU president Boris Kutin said that this Championship has received
mosts compliments for the organizers.
Rijeka's Championship in quotes and numbers
On March 18th 2010 the 11th European Individual Men and Women's Chess Championship
ended in Rijeka. As you already know, the gold was won by the 20-year old Russian
grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi and by Sweidsh grandmaster Pia
Cramling.
The Championship achieved various records, and here are some of the numbers.
Total of 566 chess players from 41 European
countries participated in Rijeka. 440 players with a chess
title, 196 of them grandmasters, as well as 158
players female chess players, 134 of them with a chess title.
Now, here are some of the details about games played in Rijeka: total of 3,078
games were played and 2,088 or 68% of them ended in wins or losses. Only 32%
of the games were drawn. A total of 41 norms for titles of
men and women grandmasters and International Masters were achieved in both tournaments.
A total of 8 male and 1 female player have
earned a norm for the title of grandmaster. 23 male chess players
qualified for the World Cup and 14 female players qualified
for the World Championships.
This Championship will be remembered by the large number of visitors who watched 75 broadcast games every day. Up to now, our web site was visited
more than two million times. March 11th, was a record day,
when there was more than 200,000 visitors. Some 1,500
visitors passed through the sport's hall of the Centre Zamet.
[The Internet numbers, while impressive, are not reflected in tracking
services like ]
Here are some of the quotes about this Championship:
Anatoly Karpov, ex World Champion: “I was at Croatia
30 years ago, and the organization of this Championship in Rijeka delighted
me. The organizers provided ideal conditions for a large number of players
and so I congratulate them for the excellent organization“.
Georgios Makropoulos, FIDE Deputy President: “This
is the best organized European Individual Chess Championship, because excellent
accomodation and playing conditions are provided for all players.“
Boris Kutin, ECU President: "No championship has
ever received as many compliments as this one in Rijeka. This is surely
the best one.“
Zoltan Almasi, GM: “This is the strongest European
Championship ever and as well the best organized championship for sure.
Opatija is a very nice place and I fell excellent here“.
Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM: “I love this country and
I must admit that I was warmly welcomed in Croatia. This is a country full
of friendly individuals. Conditions for the game are also great."
Pia Cramling, GM: “This is my first time in Croatia
and I am really enjoying. Everything is nice here and it is my great pleasure
to play in Rijeka. It is very important for men and women to play together
so that's why this sports hall is ideal for this tournament.
Victoria Cmilyte, WGM : “I think this is the best
competition ever. Opatija is a beautiful place, and the hall is ideal for
playing chess. All this has made this championship very special and unique.“
Top scorers in the men's section (after eleven rounds)
A selection of the games were broadcast live on the official web site
and on the chess server .
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!
20.03.2010 – Vasily Mr Amber Ivanchuk once again back in the sole lead. The Ukrainian beat Alexander Grischuk 1.5:0.5, while his main rival, Magnus Carlsen, lost 0.5:1.5 to Azeri GM Vugar Gashimov. Sergey Karjakin scored 2-0 against his compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov, while Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian shared the points with a win each. Round seven report.
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category 11: BLR-ch
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Valeri Lilov presents Aronian-Nakamura, Bursa 2010
The 19th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, organized by the Association
Max Euwe in Monaco, is taking place from March 13 (first round) to March 25
(last round) at the Palais de la Mediterranée, splendidly located on
the famous Promenade des Anglais in Nice. The total prize fund is € 216,000.
Every day four sessions will be played, two blindfold sessions and two rapid
sessions. The first session starts at 14.30 hrs. The fourth session finishes
around 20.00 hrs. Note: the final round on March 25 starts at 12.30 hrs. March
17 and 22 are rest days. The rate of play is 25 minutes per game per player.
With every move made in the blindfold games 20 seconds is added to the clock,
with every move made in the rapid games 10 seconds is added.
Vasily ‘Mr Amber’ Ivanchuk once again back in the sole lead
Blindfold Chess Round seven
Rapid Chess Round seven
Kramnik-Aronian
1-0
Aronian-Kramnik
1-0
Gelfand-Smeets
½-½
Smeets-Gelfand
0-1
Gashimov-Carlsen
1-0
Carlsen-Gashimov
½-½
Grischuk-Ivanchuk
½-½
Ivanchuk-Grischuk
1-0
Dominguez-Svidler
½-½
Svidler-Dominguez
1-0
Ponomariov-Karjakin
0-1
Karjakin-Ponomariov
1-0
In Round seven Vasily Ivanchuk once again moved into the sole lead. The Ukrainian
grandmaster had luck on his side in his mini-match against Russian champion
Alexander Grischuk. Thanks to this 1½-½ win Ivanchuk replaced
Magnus Carlsen as leader in the overall standings. The Norwegian top-seed had
an off-day. He was obviously disappointed by his ½-1½ loss against
Vugar Gashimov, but he was even more worried by the play he had shown. Sergey
Karjakin moved up to shared third place thanks to a 2-0 win over his former
compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov.
Gashimov-Carlsen: Vugar Gashimov was confronted by a Berlin
Wall in his blindfold game against Magnus Carlsen. In the endgame that duly
appeared on the board within a few moves, White is supposed to be only slightly
better, but Gashimov’s life was made easy by Carlsen’s 14…b6,
and he kept a cool head when Carlsen came up with his last trick, 29…c6,
to convert his advantage with a steady hand.
In the rapid game Carlsen seemed to get good chances to level the score in
this mini-match, when Gashimov played too riskily in the opening. But as always
it’s not over till it’s over and with tenacious play White managed
to save the draw; on 58 there were only two kings left on the board.
Kramnik-Aronian: Vladimir Kramnik won a nice game against
Levon Aronian in their blindfold encounter. In a Tarrasch Defence Black got
into problems when he pushed 20…d4. Better would have been 20…Qc5+
21.Kh2 and only now 21…d4. After 21.f5 White’s attack became very
dangerous. If for instance Black had played 21…Bd5 instead of 21…Bc4,
White pushes 22.f6 and he is in time to mate the black king.
The game suddenly ended when Black blundered with 22…Qxa2?,
which allows the crushing 23.Rb2 Qa1 24.f6 1-0.
Aronian levelled the score in the rapid game, but this was a far from flawless
performance from both players. As Aronian summed it up when he entered the hospitality
lounge after the game: ‘First I was winning, then I was losing and then
I was winning again.’ No one argued with that, not even the various engines
present.
The first time the tables were turned when Aronian blundered with 26.Rxe3 and
found himself in a lost position after Black’s answer, while he could
have gotten a great position with 26.Qg2 Re7 27.Rxe7 Kxe7 28.Qg7+. Kramnik returned
the favour with 32…Kf8, which gave away most of his advantage, whereas
32…Kf6 33.Re4 Rg8 would still have had him winning comfortably. After
this missed opportunity the game seemed to be steering for a draw, but another
mistake by Kramnik cost him the game. With 49…Kh7 he would have kept the
draw. After 49…c3 he must have been shocked by White’s unnerving
reply and one move later he had to resign.
Analysing after the game, with Fabiano Caruana and Ljubo Ljubojevic looking
on
Sergey Karjakin: 2-0 against his compatriot Ruslan Ponomariov
Ponomariov-Karjakin: The longest game of the blindfold sessions
between Ruslan Ponomariov and Sergey Karjakin lasted 71 moves and 90 minutes
and ended in a victory for the latter. The rapid game was a walkover for Karjakin,
as Ponomariov put up feeble resistance.
Levon Aronian – Armenia, Elo rating: 2782, World ranking:
5, born October 6, 1982, Amber highlights: shared 2nd in the rapid in 2006,
winner in 2008 and 2009
As the glorious winner of the past two Amber tournaments, Levon Aronian is
obviously the man to beat in this year’s 19th edition. Last year the Armenian
number one edged out Anand and Kramnik by half a point to take overall first.
In 2008 Aronian truly was on a rampage in Nice, when playing inspired chess
he claimed first place 2½(!) points ahead of Kramnik, Topalov, Leko and
Carlsen.
Aronian had his international break-through in 2005 when he celebrated one
success after the other and shot up to the fifth place in the world rankings.
His successes in that revelatory year included a shared first place in Gibraltar,
first place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and, to cap it all, first place in the World
Cup tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk. Of course, these results didn’t come
completely unexpected. After all he was already World Junior Champion U-12 as
long ago as 1994 and overall World Junior Champion in 2002.
Aronian continued to be successful in 2006. He claimed first prize in the Morelia-Linares
tournament and later that year he also tied for first in the Tal Memorial. In
2007 Aronian shared first place in the Corus tournament and when he arrived
in Elista for the Candidates’ matches he was seen as one of the outspoken
favourites. Rightly so, as he knocked out Carlsen and Shirov to qualify for
the World Championship Tournament in Mexico, where he had to settle for shared
sixth place.
In 2008 he won Corus again, this time together with Carlsen, and he also won
the Karen Asrian Memorial in Yerevan and the Grand Prix tournament in Sochi.
But easily the most important success for him was the victory of the Armenian
team at the Dresden Olympiad, unequivocal proof that their win in Torino in
2006 had been no accident. His biggest successes in 2009 were his continued
domination in the FIDE Grand Prix, in which he took first place with one tournament
to go, and his first place in the Grand Slam Final in Bilbao.
Aronian’s debut in the 2006 Amber tournament will not easily be forgotten.
The off-beat and sometimes outright weird openings that he confronted his opponents
with caused both amazement and hilarity. His games in the following two years
were slightly less eccentric, but last year he again won several games with
what John Nunn dubbed ‘slow-motion swindling.’
Vugar Gashimov – Azerbaijan, Elo rating: 2740, World
ranking: 12, born July 24, 1986, Amber highlights: This is his Amber debut.
Although he already entered the top-twenty in the summer of 2008 and shot
up to 6th place in the world rankings last November, it is safe to say that
the public at large knows little or nothing about Vugar Gashimov. Suddenly the
23-year-old grandmaster from Azerbaijan seemed to appear from nowhere and launched
himself to the top. Of course, part of his anonymity can be explained by the
speed with which he progressed, but there is more. For a long, difficult period
he hardly appeared in any tournaments, because the doctors had forbidden him
to play a lot of chess.
Gashimov was born in Baku in 1986 and at an early age his prodigious talent
for chess was discovered. Playing sparkling, carefree chess he excelled in junior
tournaments, mostly beating his closest rivals Radjabov and Guseinov. When he
was 12 he took first place in the U-16 section of the Kasparov Cup in Moscow
and earned encouraging praise from the Master Himself. And then fate struck.
He was treated for epileptic spasms and twice he underwent brain surgery, but
nothing helped. Only years later his life took another dramatic turn, this time
for the better, when he was operated upon a third time in Bonn, Germany, and
a benign tumour was successfully removed from his brain.
In the meantime Gashimov had developed into a more strategic player, playing
solid positional chess (although one of his favourite openings is the razor-sharp
Benoni). But he is a very strong positional player, as his opponents had to
experience. Now things went rapidly. In the spring of 2007 he was still ranked
61st with a rating of 2644, one year on he had already made the jump to number
20 with a rating of 2717. Before the chess world knew it he had joined the elite,
peaking on the January list of this year with a formidable 2759 rating.
Gashimov’s international breakthrough cam in 2008 when he won the inaugural
Grand Prix tournament in Baku together with Wang Yue and Magnus Carlsen. He
continued to play well in the Grand Prix and in the overall GP standings he
occupies the fifth position.
Gashimov is also a great team player as his outstanding results in team competitions
show. At the Dresden Olympiad he won a silver medal on second board with a score
of 6,5 out of 9. Exactly the same score he made at the 2009 European Team Championships
in Novi Sad and this time his win in the final round brought Azerbaijan the
gold medals.
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the
chess server .
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!
