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WORLD CHESS NEWS:
So tackles Kamsky after booting out Ivanchuk -- 27-Nov-09, sports.inquirer.net, play chess online
Filipino chess Grandmaster Wesley So claimed the biggest scalp of his young chess career Wednesday night, sealing a 1.5-.5 victory over super GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine to barge into the third round of the 2009 World Chess Cup at the Khanty-Mansiysk Center of Arts. Continuing his strong showing against higher-rated chess players, the 16-year-old So held Ivanchuk to a fighting draw in the second game of their second round encounter to forge a showdown with defending chess champion GM Gata Kamsky of the United States. So stunned the sixth-seeded Ivanchuk (Elo 2739) with the black pieces in Game 1 Tuesday night. His confidence boosted, So then ...
Defence, part 2: how does White save himself? -- 24-Nov-09, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
When defending, capturing can take the sting out of an attack. Is that the case here? Fedorov-Maletin, St Petersburg 2009. Continuing our theme of defence, how can White, to play, save himself? RB What's the threat here? 1... Nxg1 2 Qxg1 gives Black nothing, except a pawn down in a queen and rook endgame. Nothing there. What else? Oh,yes. 1... Qg3. This is very bad. The only thing White could do then is 2 Qxf3, but 2...Rxf3 3 gxf3?? Qxh3 is mate. OK, we need to stop the black queen getting to g3. Is it bonkers to take with the queen? 1 Qxf3 Rxf3 2 gxf3 and White has two rooks for the queen, which is not terrible. Let's try consider ...
Kramnik's best game -- 23-Nov-09, washingtonpost.com, play chess online
For the last several years, Vladimir Kramnik tried to make sure he did not lose games. It was a perfect style for the world chess championship matches and for his duels against chess computers, but it was not good enough to win major tournaments. After playing listlessly and losing the match for the world title to Anand last year, Kramnik decided to play more sharply. It paid big dividends. In July, Kramnik won in Dortmund, Germany, and this month, he was victorious at the Tal Memorial in Moscow. He finished ahead of Carlsen in both chess events. Their rivalry will continue next month in London. Kramnik considered the Grunfeld Indian duel against his countryman Peter Svidler ...
Despite a New Top Player, an Old Champ Is a Winner -- 22-Nov-09, nytimes.com, play chess online
Like some professional sports, chess seems to be in a state of parity. It has not always been this way. Bobby Fischer’s decisive victory over Boris Spassky in the 1972 world chess championship match confirmed what many people assumed: that he had long been the best chess player in the world. After Anatoly Karpov became champion in 1975, some questioned his worthiness because Fischer had not defended the title. But, over the next decade, Karpov proved himself by regularly beating his rivals and winning almost every chess match and tournament he played. Karpov’s successor, Garry Kasparov, was even better. After winning the title in 1985, Kasparov ...
Vladimir Kramnik regains top form -- 21-Nov-09, latimes.com, play chess online
Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Tal Memorial in Moscow by scoring an undefeated 6-3. The round robin featured 10 of the world's top 13 chess stars. Kramnik, in his prime at age 34, seems fully recovered from losing the 2008 world championship match to Viswanathan Anand of India. He also won his previous elite chess tournament in Dortmund, Germany, in July. In Moscow, Kramnik reached "+3" after six rounds, and only Anand, who was "+2," remained close. However, Anand lost in the last round to Levon Aronian of Armenia and fell to a tie for fourth place with Aronian at 5-4. Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Vassily Ivanchuk ...
Defence, part 1: How does Black fight back? -- 20-Nov-09, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
Svidler-Jobava, European team chess championship, 2009. Black, to move, is under attack. How does he save himself? Our theme over the next few columns is defence – hardly a glamorous subject, and little discussed, but of course vital in chess. White has just played his knight into the middle of the board, heading towards Black's king, and the rook and the queen are also in powerful attacking positions. What does Black have in his favour? Not much. But he does have a material advantage, rook for knight and an extra pawn. This gives him a little hope: if Black survives the attack, he could find himself with a winning position. So let's concentrate on survival. First we ...
Kramnik triumphant in Moscow -- 19-Nov-09, washingtonpost.com, play chess online
Former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik won the flu-stricken Tal Memorial on Saturday. Playing more deliberately and sharply, the Russian grandmaster reinvented himself. He did not mind dwelling in complications and kept his cool in difficult situations. He withstood the last-round charge of Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk, last year's winner of the same chess event. Magnus Carlsen sneaked in a tie for second place by winning the last two games. The Norwegian grandmaster gained enough rating points to move into the world's top spot. The world chess champion Vishy Anand of India had a chance to tie for first with Kramnik, but lost in the last round with the white pieces to ...
French chess star wins world junior -- 18-Nov-09, latimes.com, play chess online
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France edged Sergei Zhigalko of Belarus to win the World Junior Chess Championship in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Each scored an undefeated 10 1/2 -2 1/2 in the 82-player tournament, the most prestigious age-limited chess event. Only players born in 1989 or later were eligible. Vachier-Lagrave, 19, earned the chess grandmaster title in 2005 and won the French championship in 2007. He entered the tournament as the top seed with a rating of 2718 (23rd in the world), but his triumph was hardly guaranteed in an upset-filled melee that included 16 other grandmasters, including six rated above 2600. Zhigalko, 20, was seeded third ...
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