exd5!

14.01.2010
– We hear a collective sigh of relief: after the Tal Memorial, the World Blitz,
the London Chess Classic and the World Team Championship (ended yesterday),
some chess fans out there were feeling a twinge of withdrawal. Not to worry:
top GMs are currently arriving in the Dutch seaside town for the annual chess
festival. We will provide full coverage on Playchess.
Here are the tournament details.

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Wijk aan Zee 2010 – information and schedule

Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast
of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North
Holland of the Netherlands.

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Larger Map

The prestigious yearly tournament takes place in three Grandmaster Groups.
There are also a number of amateur groups taking part at the same time. The
three Grandmaster tournaments have 14 players each and are round robins (each
competitor plays against every other).

Participants of Grandmaster Group A

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	rank	born
GM	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2810	1	1990
GM	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2790	3	1969
GM	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2788	4	1975
GM	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2749	8	1969
GM	Peter Leko	HUN	2739	12	1979
GM	Alexei Shirov	SPA	2723	20	1972
GM	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2720	21	1990
GM	Leinier Dominguez	CUB	2712	25	1983
GM	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2708	28	1987
GM	Nigel Short	ENG	2696	38	1965
GM	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2675	51	1992
GM	Sergey Tiviakov	NED	2662	62	1973
GM	Jan Smeets	NED	2657	73	1985
GM	Loek van Wely	NED	2641	104	1972
Average rating: 2719 – Category: 19

The average rating in Group A is almost exactly the same as in the previous
year: 2719, making this a category 19 tournament. At the top is the world's
highest rated player, Magnus Carlsen, followed by World Champion Viswanathan
Anand and former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Hikaru Nakamura comes straight
from his resounding success in the World Team Championships in Bursa, Turkey,
and is good for providing interesting games. Two players from last year's Group
B have moved up to the A section: Nigel Short, former World Championship challenger,
and Fabiano Caruana, who at 17 is Italy's strongest ever grandmaster. Sergey
Karjakin, you might remember, is the winner of last year's event.

Participants of Grandmaster Group B

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	born
GM	Arkadij Naiditsch	GER	2687	1985
GM	Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu	ROM	2681	1976
GM	Pentala Harikrishna	IND	2672	1986
GM	Hua Ni	CHN	2657	1983
GM	Emil Sutovsky	ISR	2657	1977
GM	Wesley So	PHI	2656	1993
GM	Tomi Nyback	FIN	2643	1985
GM	Varuzhan Akobian	USA	2628	1983
GM	Parimarjan Negi	IND	2621	1993
GM	Erwin l'Ami	NED	2615	1985
GM	David Howell	ENG	2606	1990
GM	Anish Giri	NED	2588	1994
GM	Dimitri Reinderman	NED	2573	1972
WGM	Anna Muzychuk	SLO	2523	1990
Average rating: 2629 – Category: 16

Eleven players are rated over 2600, and there are three interesting youngsters
in the field: Wesley So and Parimarjan Negi, both 16 years old, and Dutch champion
Anish Giri, who is just 15. Anna Muzychuk, the only female in the field, is
19 and the number seven ranked women player in the world.

Participants of Grandmaster Group C

Title	Player	Nat.	Rating	born
GM	Li Chao	CHN	2604	1989
GM	Abhijeet Gupta	IND	2577	1989
GM	Ray Robson	USA	2570	1994
GM	Kjetil Lie	NOR	2547	1980
IM	Nils Grandelius	SWE	2515	1993
GM	Robin Swinkels	NED	2495	1989
GM	Daniele Vocaturo	ITA	2495	1989
IM	Robin van Kampen	NED	2456	1994
WGM	Marya Muzychuk	UKR	2447	1992
GM	Zhaoqin Peng	NED	2402	1968
FM	Stefan Kuipers	NED	2340	1990
WGM	Soumya Swaminathan	IND	2323	1989
FM	Benjamin Bok	NED	2322	1995
	Sjoerd Plukkel	NED	2279	1983
Average rating: 2455 – Category: 11

In Group C the average has dropped by 66 points, but the category is maintained.
There are three female players, including the sister of Anna Muzychuk, Marya,
and the eleven-times Dutch Women's Champion Zhaoqin Peng, who at 41 is the oldest
player in the field. The youngest is FM Benjamin Bok, 14, followed by GM Ray
Robson and IM Robin van Kampen.

Rate of play
For all three groups the rate of play is 40 moves in two hours, then 20 moves
in one hour, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30 second
increment per move.

Location: The tournament takes place in the De Moriaan Community
Centre (Dorpsduinen 4, 1949 EG Wijk aan Zee). There is running commentary on
the games of the Grandmaster Groups in a special Chess Pavilion, on the Village
Green in Wijk aan Zee (one minute walk from De Moriaan).

Accommodation: For information contact the local Tourist Office.
VVV IJmond Noord, Julianaplein 13-15, 1949 AT Wijk aan Zee. Telephone: + 31
(0)251 374253. E-mail: info@vvvijmondnoord.nl Website: http://www.visitwijkaanzee.nl

Schedule (playing days)

January 2010
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Games begin at 13:30h local time (CET), except for the last round on January
31st, which begins at 12:30h. There are three rest days, on January 20th, 25th,
and 28th.

Links

• Official web
  site
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2009 (winner: Sergey Karjakin)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2008 (winners: Aronian, Carlsen)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2007 (winner: Teimour Radjabov)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2006 (winners: Anand, Topalov)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2005 (winner: Peter Leko)
• ChessBase:
  Wijk 2004 (winner: Viswanathan Anand)

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07.01.2010
– He became a grandmaster at the age of twelve years and seven months –
the youngest in
history. Sergey Karjakin, who turns twenty next Tuesday, is ten months older
than Magnus Carlsen, the current number one in the world rankings. In the magazine
Segodnja Sport the former Ukrainian,
who is lives in and plays for Russia, tells us about his chess programme, marriage
and life in Moscow.

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Kariakin: "At home, I have already done a course as a young father"

The Guiness Book of Records holder spoke to Sevodnya Sport, about his life
in Moscow after his change of citizenship, about his favourite restaurant, his
domestic responsibilities and the "humanising" of chess.

Sergey, in the January FIDE rating list, you appeared as a Russian. How
do you feel at having obtained a new chess nationality?

It was just a formality, because I am already a Russian citizen, and have been
living in Moscow lately. So nothing unexpected has happened.

But this formality gives you the right to play on the Russian team.

I very much wanted to play for the Russian team at the world team championships,
which starts this week in Turkey. But because of some rules, the details of
which I do not know, I still do not have the right to play for Russia. I hope
to do so at the end of the year at the Olympiad in Khanty-Mansisk.

How have the Ukrainian players reacted to this switch?

They have been perfectly understanding, because the situation in the Ukraine
is completely hopeless. As just one example, all the Ukrainian players have
been excluded from the Jan 1st rating list, because the Federation have not
paid their FIDE dues. [Apart from the shame, this has no other particular
consequences for Ukraine, because the rating list does not affect participation
in tournaments. If we pay the dues – which the Federation is preparing
to do any day now – we will be restored to the rating list, in which,
by the way, Ukraine is second only to Russia – Author]

Sergey, how does it feel to return home as a foreigner?

Nothing has changed. I still go back home. I know some of the border guards
at Simferopol Airport, who tell me that I have done the right thing by moving.
The truth is that many people understand me and support me.

How are you settling in Moscow?

I am renting a two-room apartment in the centre of the city. I found it via
a friend, so it is not too expensive. But I hope in time to get my own place
in Moscow.

Was it hard to adjust to the rhythm of the metropolis, after Simferopol?

It was, but I have always found it interesting to be in big cities. My wife
is from Kiev, so I have lived there. But Moscow seems big, even compared with
Kiev.

And you have experienced the famous Moscow traffic jams?

Yes. After I won the qualifying tournament for the world blitz, a friend offered
me a lift home in his car. We spent two and a half hours in traffic jams. After
that, I started going round the city on the Metro, or on foot. I like walking
and enjoy looking at the sights.

Do you already have any favourite places?

The Georgian restaurant "Genatsvale na Arbat". I have never eaten
such nice shashliks anywhere. But the restaurant is very expensive, so I do
not go there all that often, only after a particular success. [Our translator
heartily approves of Karjakin's taste in restaurants. Genatsvale was one of
Steve Giddins' favourites, when he lived in Moscow.]

Sergey, in the summer you married your colleague, WGM Ekaterina Dolzhikova.
How has that changed your life?

Whereas in the past I travelled to tournaments with my parents, now I go with
my wife. She supports me, and because she speaks very good English, she can
often solve problems that arise.

How do you divide up the domestic responsibilities?

Katya cooks, and does an especially good spaghetti bolognaise. That is my
favourite dish. I shop in the market, clean up, and generally try to help. But
in the main, the domestic work falls on my wife.

You are not yet thinking about starting a family?

It is a bit too soon for that. But I have a two-year old brother. His parents
have brought him up before my very eyes, so you could say that I have already
had a course in being a father.

How have your chess plans changed since the move?

I have begun to work with well-known trainers. This was my main condition for
the move. I said, if you want me to move, then give me the best trainers. In
Moscow there are always training sessions, chances to exchange experience. This
is what The Ukraine lacks.

Do you have certain obligations towards the Russian Chess Federation?

They have not imposed any conditions on me. Nobody can promise to become world
champion or to win several super-tournaments in a row. But on the other hand,
money has been spent on me, and you have to justify that faith.

What are you working on at the moment?

In contemporary chess, the opening is very important. One has to look for new
ideas, human solutions to positions. Maybe they will not always be the strongest,
but you have to force the opponent to work with his own head, and not just remember
computer variations.

How to you react to the fact that Kasparov is training Carlsen? Many
consider that you and Carlsen will in the near future be competing against
each other for the world championship.

I am sure that Magnus will benefit greatly from his cooperation with Garry
Kimovich. But I am thinking more about myself. I am studying with Kasparov's
trainer Dokhoian, and have already learned quite a lot from him. And the stories
about my never-ending rivalry with Carlsen are really just journalistic inventions.
I do not consider Magnus my principal rival.

You have already missed the qualification cycle for the world championship.
Maybe after your move to Russia, Illyumzhinov will invite you to the Candidates
specially, as the great hope of Russian chess?

I very much doubt it. There are a lot of candidates. But if Illyumzhinov opens
the way, I will not say no, and will be very grateful to him. But for now, the
aim I have set myself is to get into the top ten on the world rating list.

Translation
by Steve Giddins

• Original interview
  in Segodnja Sport (in Russian)
• ChessBase:
  Sergey and Kateryna tie the knot
• ChessBase:
  Serge 'n Kath: interviews with the youngest Super-GM couple

Chessbase.com

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02.01.2010
– After missing a number of Championships Alexander Grischuk returned to the Superfinal in style, winning the event with a 2851 performance. GM Alisa Galliamova won the women's section with a TPR of 2715. At the closing ceremony the organiser Alexander Bakh was awarded the Order of Friendship for his work by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Final photo report.

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Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

The Russian Championship Super Final for men and women took place from December
19th to 30th in the Moscow Central Chess Club in the Gogolevsky Boulevard. Participants
were the top players by rating and qualifiers from the higher league competitions.
The rate of play was 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for 20 moves,
and then 15 minutes and a 30 second increment per move to end the game. Players
could not offer draws directly to their opponents but had to do so through an
arbiter. The total prize fund was close to two million rubles = US $100,000
for the men and 1.2 million rubles = US $40,000 for the women.

Closing ceremony

Report by Misha Savinov

The closing ceremony of the Russian Superfinals was rather brief. The Russian
Chess Federation executive director and temporary president Alexander Bakh announced
the results of both championships. He said that everyone is especially pleased
with Alexander Grischuk’s long-awaited victory.

Alexander Grischuk and Alexander Bakh at the closing ceremony

Grischuk, who finished second behind Kasparov in the first Superfinal, did
not participate in the next couple of tournaments, being unhappy about the decreased
amount of the first prize. However when he took part Grischuk came second in
2007 (a point behind Morozevich), missed the event in 2008, and now came first
– very decent results, to sat the least!

Both winners: Alisa Galliamova, Alexander Grischuk

Gold and Silver for Grischuk and Peter Svidler

Peter Svidler, who finished second, is a five-time Russian champion, so this
year’s second place is hardly a blow for the Petersburger’s morale.
In the last round Peter defeated Evgeny Tomashevsky, thus gaining some Elo points
as well as solidifying his second place. He has every reason to be happy about
his performance, with the exception of the game against Sjugirov. As Peter himself
says, in every tournament he plays there is one game that is better forgotten...

Bronze medal for Nikita Vitiugov

Nikita Vitiugov took the bronze medal in the men’s section. He also represents
St. Petersburg, and will cross the 2700 mark very soon. A very uncompromising
and creative player, he managed to get the medal despite a few setbacks along
the way, namely drawing a winning position against Svidler and losing to the
outsider Riazantsev in a crushing manner in the penultimate round.

Gold medal winner Alisa Galliamova at the closing ceremony

Alisa Galliamova’s gold medal came after a voluntary two-year break.
Alisa said she didn’t play her best chess in this tournament, but surprisingly
it was enough to win gold. The Kosintseva sisters decided not to fight in their
last round individual encounter, despite both having decent chances to move
up the tournament ladder in case of a victory: Tatiana could catch up with Valentina
Gunina for the bronze, while Nadezhda had a chance to get to the tiebreak for
gold. Yet the peaceful tradition in the sisters’ games prevailed, and
the tournament fate was settled: 1st Galliamova, 2nd N. Kosintseva, 3rd Gunina.

Galliamova, Kosintseva, Gunina – Gold, Silver and Bronze

In conclusion I would like to mention that on December 28 Alexander Bakh was
awarded the Order of
Friendship for his sports work by the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Other people similarly honored include tennis superstars Marat Safin and Anastasia
Myskina. It must be a pleasure to be recognized, and especially to be in such
a nice company.

All in all the 2009 Superfinals were among the most uncompromising in history
and brought some very exciting results. Hopefully the next year the lineups
will become even stronger, with Kosteniuk, Kramnik and Karjakin all joining
the field. We are already looking forward to that!

Final standings men

Final standings women

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN: Men – Women 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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31.12.2009
– FIDE has just released its January 1st 2010 rating list, and it has the 19-year-old Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with 2810 in the number one slot, five points ahead of number two Veselin Topalov, and twenty points above World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Magnus is the youngest player to cross the 2800 mark and to top the world rankings.
Congratulations!

Andrew Martin:
The Trompowsky - The easy way - 2nd Edition
Thirty years ago the Trompowsky opening was almost totally unknown. It took a few spectacular games by Rafael Vaganian to bring 2.Bg5 into the limelight, and after that, the die was cast. Today 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 is used by many of the best players in the world and a whole body of complicated theory has built up.
More information...

FIDE January 2010 Rating List

Magnus Carlsen gained nine rating points in his last sixteen
games to come in at 2810 Elo points and to occupy the number one slot in the
world rankings. Below is this prodigy's rating progress in the last nine years.

In second place is Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov, who lost
five points in four games (at the European Team Championships in Novi Sad),
followed by World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who lost two
points in nine games. Vladimir Kramnik is number four, having
won a whopping sixteen points in sixteen games. Kramnik displaced Levon
Aronian, who lost five points and is now in place five in the world
rankings.

Other notatble changes at the top: Vassily Ivanchuk has gained ten points and
is once again in the top ten. So is Chinese GM Wang Yue, who gained fifteen
points. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov gained 22 points, while Peter Leko lost 13, Teimour
Radjabov 15 and Alexander Morozevich 18 points.

FIDE January 1st 2010 – Top 100 Players

FIDE Top 100 Women January 2010

Nothing has changed: Judit Polgar is still almost 70 points ahead of her nearest
rival, Indian GM Koneru Humpy. Chinese wonder talent Hou Yifan continues to
move slowly towards the 2600 mark and we can expect her to soon be the third
female player in history to achive this.

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Benko corrects Troitzky ChessBase Christmas Puzzles December 30, 2009

Pal Benko, who in Hungarian is written Benkö Pál,
was born on July 14, 1928 in Amiens, France. He was raised in Hungary and soon
showed an affinity to chess. At 20 he was Hungarian champion, and was playing
for the national teams. In 1957 after the World Student Team Championship in
Reykjavik (where he scored 7.5/12 on board one) he defected to the United States,
where he started to play in national events. He was first or tied for first
in eight US championships from 1961 to 1975.

In 1959 and 1962 Benko played in the Candidates Tournament for the World Championship,
which consisted had eight of the world's top players. He was intrumental in
Bobby Fischer's ascent to the World Championship title: in 1969 Benko had won
the US Championship and thus qualified for zonals, he was amongst the top three
finishers that advanced to the Interzonals. Fischer had not played in the US
Championship and was therefore out of the cycle. Benko agreed to give up his
spot in the Interzonal in order to give Fischer another shot at the World Championship.
Fischer went on to win the title in 1972.

Pal Benko is an openings expert who has variations named after him. Everyone
knows the Benko Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5), which he popularised, and
played with great success from the mid-1960s. And there is the Benko Opening
(1.g3), which he introduced at the 1962 Candidates Tournament and used to defeat
Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal.

In addition to his success as a player, Benko is a noted authority on the chess
endgame and a composer of endgame studies and chess problems. For decades, he
has had a column on endgames in Chess Life magazine. His studies and
problems have appeared in countless newspapers and magazines. Just to give you
an impression of his creativity here are two of our favourite examples:

Pál Benkö, Magyar Sakkélet 1972

White to play and mate in eight

If you are lucky enough not to know this problem we urge you to work on it
for a while without switching on a chess engine. Can you imagine how the solution
will go? We bet you can't.

Pál Benkö, Magyar Sakkélet 1970

Mate in three (ten positions)

1. above diagram: solution 1.Re6!
2. move the black king to d4: solution Nf3+!
3. move the white bishop to g2: solution Re1!
4. move the white knight to g6: solution Re2!
5. move the white knight to f6: solution Re2!
6. move the white knight to e3: solution Nc4!
7. move the white bishop to b3: solution Nc4!
8. move the white bishop to b5: solution Nf5+!
9. move the white knight to d8: solution Re6!
10. move the black king to d5: solution Re6!

• Proceed
  to our Christmas Puzzle page

Chessbase.com

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