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WORLD CHESS NEWS:
Chess notes -- 08-Feb-10, boston.com, play chess online
All eyes this week were on the Corus chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, which had about everything one could hope for: drama, contention, star players, and great chess. The event’s sponsor, Corus, is a steel manufacturing and construction company, which was recently acquired by Tate Steel, India’s second largest privately held company. This corporation is a sponsor of many athletic and cultural events throughout Europe and hopefully will continue this great chess event in future years. The “Corus Line’’ in this tourney included, among its 14 contestants, nearly all of the world’s leading Grandmasters, except for Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Levon Aronian of ...
World's No. 1 Chess Player Widens Lead Over His Biggest Rivals -- 07-Feb-10, nytimes.com, play chess online
History will record 1990 as a great year for chess players: it was when three of the current top 25 players in the world were born. The youngest of the three is Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who is No. 1 in the world. Of the other two, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France is No. 18, and Sergey Karjakin, who was born in Ukraine but now plays for Russia, is No. 21. Under different circumstances, Karjakin and Vachier-Lagrave would be considered potential world chess champions. But just as the talented players in the 2003 N.B.A. draft have labored in LeBron James’s shadow, Karjakin and Vachier-Lagrave have been eclipsed by Carlsen. In Karjakin’s case, it is puzzling. He was the youngest ...
Vishy Anand helps Magnus Carlsen to claim Corus crown -- 06-Feb-10, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
When Vishy Anand drew his first nine games at Corus Wijk aan Zee last week, opinions were divided on whether the world chess champion had lost his edge or was simply taking a well-paid rest before his April title defence in Sofia against Veselin Topalov. Then Anand acted as Corus king-maker, beating Alexei Shirov and Vlad Kramnik, so that the pair finished half a point behind Magnus Carlsen. Norway's world No1 had previously won at Pearl Spring in China and the London Classic and finished second at the Tal Memorial, His fine run continued at Wijk, and the live ratings now make him the all-time No2 to Garry Kasparov. Carlsen had final-round luck in Holland, and the impression is that ...
Fresh ideas from Adams -- 05-Feb-10, telegraph.co.uk, play chess online
The Governor of Gibraltar Sir Adrian Johns visited the Gibtelecom Masters at the Caleta Hotel and chose the day the chess competition intensified as England’s Michael Adams regained a share of the lead with a ninth round win. Adams produced a new idea in the opening against the French Defence and although it did not look particularly dangerous he gradually outplayed the Argentinian GM Damian Lemos to reach 7/9. All the games were hardfought with the exception of the top board where the leader at start of play Jan Gustafsson was content to force an early draw against top seed Etienne Bacrot. With one to play Adams shares the lead with ...
Jan Gustafsson breaks away -- 04-Feb-10, telegraph.co.uk, play chess online
If there was a traffic jam after seven rounds of the GibTelecom Masters there is gridlock after eight although GM Jan Gustafsson of Germany started speeding and broke away from the pack by defeating WGM Natalia Zhukova with black. Eight of the co-leaders at start of play drew, two lost and only Gustafsson reached 6.5/8 with over a dozen chess players on 6 points. Michael Adams held former US chess champion and FIDE championship finalist Gata Kamsky to a draw with black and the pair are in the group on 6. The top seed Etienne Bacrot is also on 6/8. He made a slow start but is back in contention. In the following game he employs the Moldovan Variation of ...
The Scotch Opening, part 4: what does White do next? -- 03-Feb-10, guardian.co.uk, play chess online
Fashions come and go in chess. And this is is one that may well be on the way back. 4... Bc5 is one of Black's main options against the Scotch chess opening (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4). How should White continue? RB I've done a tiny bit of study on the Scotch and so am not quite the total novice I was when we began this survey. In fact, I've reached this position in a couple of recent casual games. I've tried both of White's two principal continuations here, 5 Nxc6 and 5 Be3 (5 Nb3 is less often seen). The first of these looks appealing for White: 5...dxc6 6 Qxd8+ Kxd8 puts an end to Black's castling ...
Carlsen Conquers Corus -- 02-Feb-10, gambit.blogs.nytimes.com, play chess online
With a bit of luck and nerves of steel, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the world’s top-ranked chess player, won the annual Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, which ended Sunday. Carlsen finished with a score of 8.5 points out of 13, a half point ahead of Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Alexei Shirov of Spain. Viswanathan Anand of India, the world chess champion, and Hikaru Nakamura of the United States, were tied for fourth and fifth, another half point back. The chess tournament is named after the Dutch company, which is the second largest steel producer in Europe, according to the company’s Web site. The tournament is one of the highlights of the year ...
Magnus Carlsen joins Vladimir Kramnik -- 01-Feb-10, telegraph.co.uk, play chess online
Vladimir Kramnik had to engineer an escape from a difficult endgame as Alexey Shirov brought the former world chess champion to the brink of defeat at Wijk aan Zee. Shirov remains half a point behind Kramnik and world number one Magnus Carlsen with two to play. Carlsen defeated Lenier Dominguez, somewhat fortuitously, to join Kramnik on 7.5/11. Carlsen has the easier finish as Kramnik must play black against Vishy Anand in the penultimate game. Carlsen faces Peter Leko with black and teenager Fabiano Caruana with white. ...
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