2008

Leko leads in Dortmund

Peter Parr (SMH 7/7/08)

Peter Leko took the lead from Jan Gustafsson by defeating him in the penultimate round in Dortmund on Saturday evening. Progress scores after round 6 (8 players,7 rounds)- P.Leko(HUN 2741) 4,J.Gustafsson(GER 2603) and I.Nepomniachtchi(RUS 2634,age 17) 3.5,S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2752),V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2740),A.Naiditsch(GER 2624),V.Kramnik(RUS 2788) 3,L.Van Wely(NED 2677) 1.  L.Van Wely 2677 - J.Gustafsson 2603 Rd 5 D31 1 c4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 c6 4 e4 dxe4 5 Nxe4 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Qxd4 7 Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8 Be2 Na6 9 Ba5 b6 10 Qd6 Bd7 11 0-0-0 0-0-0 12 Bc3 f6 13 Bf3 (13 b3 Van Wely-Shirov 2002) Qxc4 14 Be2? Qxa2 15 Nf3 Nc5 16 Ne5 Ne4!(not 16..fxe5? 17 Bxe5) 17 Bc4 Qa1+ 18 Kc2 Qa4+ 0-1

IM Eduard Fomichenko(RUS 2492) and IM Aleks Wohl(AUS 2412) tied for first place scoring 8/9(performance ratings 2621) in the 51 player Vins Du Medoc Open in France. Wohl will gain 18  points from the event in the October 2008 FIDE rating list.

Leading players on the July FIDE World Rating List (results to 15 June)- V.Anand (IND 2798),A.Morozevich (RUS 2788),V.Kramnik(RUS 2788),V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2781),V.Topalov(BUL 2777),M.Carlsen(NOR 2775),T.Radjabov(AZE 2744),S.Mamedyarov (AZE 2742),A.Shirov(ESP 2741),P.Leko(HUN 2741). Women - J.Polgar (HUN 2711),H.Koneru(IND 2622),J.Xie(CHN 2574),Y.Hou(CHN 2557),A.Stefanova(BUL 2550). Seventeen-year-old Magnus Carlsen won in Foros after 15 June gaining another 16 points to 2791.

Leading average top 10 players from 137 countries - Russia 2720(183 GM,447 IM,1826 titled),Ukraine 2684(67 GM),China 2642(21 GM),USA 2637 (61 GM),Israel 2637 (34 GM),Hungary 2630 (40 GM). Australia is ranked 56 at 2440(3 GM,17 IM,75 titled,509 rated) and New Zealand is ranked 67 at 2351(1 GM,6 IM,27 titled).Leading Australian players - GM Z.Zhao (2561),GM I.Rogers(2545),IM S.Solomon(2478),IM D.Smerdon(2461),GM D.Johansen(2452),IM G.Xie(2403),FM I.Goldenberg(2386),IM A.Wohl(2384),IM G.Lane(2371),IM L.Sandler(2357). Women - IM I.Berezina(2252),WM A.Sorokina(2194),WM A.Caoili(2154),T.Nguyen(2127),WM L.Moylan(2114),WM B.Dekic(2103).

Australian Champion Stephen Solomon won the Gold Coast Open Grand Prix weekender defeating grandmaster Dejan Antic and IM Peter Froehlich(2352) but drawing with juniors Moulthun Ly and Ben Lazarus. Ly beat FM Sales and drew with Antic,Solomon and Froehlich. Leading final scores(26 players,7 rounds) IM S.Solomon(QLD 2441) 6,M.Ly(QLD 2345) 5.5,GM D.Antic (SRB    2476),FM J.Sales(NSW 2307),B.Lazarus(QLD 2031),J.Hu (NSW 2141) all 5.

Fifty-five teams contested this year's Secondary Schools One-Day Tournament, the same number as last year. The Terrey Shaw Shield, awarded each year to the winning team in the Open Division, was won by Knox Grammar School, which last won in 2006. The Junior Division (for players in Years 7 to 9) was a close battle between Cranbrook and James Ruse High, with a tie as the eventual outcome. Leading final scores (7 rounds) – Open Division (28 teams): Knox Grammar 17, Sydney Boys High 15, Ryde Secondary College 14.5; Junior Division (27 teams): Cranbrook, James Ruse High 17, North Sydney Boys High, Knox Grammar 13.5. The NSW Junior Chess League's school holiday activities will include a one-day tournament on Wednesday and a two-day tournament on Thursday and Friday. The NSW Junior Championships will be held next week. For details see www.nswjcl.org.au or contact Richard Gastineau-Hills, phone 9412 4579.

Four draws in Dortmund

Peter Parr (SMH 30/6/08)

The eight grandmasters all drew their first round games in the Dortmund,Germany GM tournament(average rating 2695) on Saturday evening.  The top seed is former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik who has won the event eight times and will play a world title match with Viswanathan Anand(India) in Bonn,Germany in October. Jan Gustafsson of Hamburg seeded last held a slight advantage against Kramnik for most of the following game.

 J.Gustafsson 2603 - V.Kramnik 2788 D85 Gruenfeld Defence 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Nf3 c5 8 Bb5+ Nc6 9 0-0 cxd4 10 cxd4 0-0 11 Be3 Bg4 12 Bxc6 bxc6 13 Rc1 Qa5 14 Qd2 Qxd2 15 Nxd2 Rfd8 16 Nb3 a5 17 Rxc6 a4 18 Nc5 Bxd4 19 Bxd4 Rxd4 20 f3 Rc8 21 Rxc8+ Bxc8 22 Rc1 a3 23 Nb3 Rd8 24 Rc7 Be6 25 Ra7 Rd1+ 26 Kf2 Bxb3 27 axb3 Rd2+ 28 Kg3 a2 29 b4 Rb2 0.5-0.5.

Vassily Ivanchuk,aged 39,has achieved very impressive results in recent months and will jump 50 rating points to 2790 on the July world rating list due to be released in a few days. Ivanchuk will be ranked third only eight rating points behind world champion Anand. Ivanchuk tied for first place in the strongest ever world junior championship which was held in Adelaide in 1988.   V.Ivanchuk (UKR 2740)- L.Van Wely(NED 2677) B84 Sicilian Scheveningen 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 e6 7 a4 Nc6 8 0-0 Be7 9 Be3 0-0 10 f4 Qc7 11 Kh1 Re8 12 Bf3 Bf8 13 Qd2 Rb8 14 Rfd1 Na5 15 Qf2 Nc4 16 Bc1 e5 17 Nde2 exf4 18 Nxf4 Be6 19 b3 Ne5 20 Bb2 g6 21 Ncd5 Bxd5 22 Nxd5 Nxd5 23 Rxd5 Bg7 24 c4 Nxf3 25 gxf3 Bxb2 26 Qxb2 Re5 27 Rad1 Rxd5 28 Rxd5 Qb6 29 Kg2 Rc8 30 Qc3 Rc5 31 h4 Rxd5 32 cxd5 Qd8 33 Kg3 Qb6 34 Kg2 Qd8 35 e5 Qxh4 36 exd6 Qg5+ 37 Kf2 Qh4+ 38 Kg2 Qg5+ 39 Kf2 0.5-0.5

Arkadij Naiditsch (2624),the local hero from Dortmund,wrote history in 2005 when he won the event at at the age of 19. He drew in round 1 with Ian Nepomniachtchi(2634) aged 17 from Russia,winner of the strong Aeroflot Open in Moscow. World number 7 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov,(AZE 2752,aged 22) drew in 24 moves with Peter Leko(HUN 2741).

International Master Aleks Wohl(AUS 2412) shares the lead with IM Eduard Fomichenko(RUS 2492) in the 51 player Vins Du Medoc Open in France.The leaders drew in round 4 and have each scored 7/8. Wohl has won six games and he drew with IM M.Van Delft(NED 2401)in round 8. Wohl has a 2624 performance rating so far in his favorite annual tournament. He won the event last year taking home his weight in wine (89 bottles).

Top seeds in the Freytag Checkmate Adelaide weekender 5-6 July Grand Prix Tournament( $10,000 sponsorship from Justin Freytag) are GM D.Antic 2482,IM D.Smerdon 2471,IM G.Xie 2437,IM A.Toth 2425 and GM D.Johansen 2423.

A one-day seven round rapid tournament (20 minutes + 3 seconds per move) will be held at Rooty Hill RSL Club on Saturday 5th July.

The first event in the NSW Junior League's school holidays program is a coaching clinic on Monday 7 July. The clinic caters for young players at various levels from absolute beginner upwards. This will be followed by a one-day tournament on Wednesday 9 July and a two-day tournament on the next two days.The NSW Junior Championships will be held the following week. For details see the league's website www.nswjcl.org.au or phone Richard Gastineau-Hills 9412 4579.

The Ergas Elite Australian Junior training squad (30 elite juniors) will be taught in Melbourne 7-13 July by Grandmasters Rogers,Zhao,Antic,Johansen and IM's Toth and Jamieson.

Carlsen first in Ukraine

Peter Parr  (SMH 23/6/08)

 Seventeen-year-old Magnus Carlsen drew his last four games to finish first and undefeated in the Aerosvit grandmaster tournament in Foros,Ukraine.

Carlsen's tournament performance rating was 2877. Carlsen's new rating is

2791.5 just seven points behind World Champion Viswanathan Anand of India(2798.1), Ivanchuk is third (2790.8),followed by Kramnik (2788.0),Morozevich (2787.9), and Topalov (2777.0).

A.Shirov 2740 v P.Svidler 2746 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5.

a4 e6 6. e3 c5 7. Bxc4 Nc6 8. O-O cxd4 9. exd4 Be7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Re1 Bd7 12. Qd2 Rc8 13. Rad1 Nb4 14. Ne5 Nbd5 15. Bxf6 Nxf6 16. d5 Bb4 17. dxe6 Bxe6 18. Qc2 Qb6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. Nd3 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Nd5 22. c4 Nb4 23. Nxb4 Qxb4 24. Re4 b5 25. Rh4 h6 26. axb5 Qxb5 27. Rxh6 Qf5 28. Qxf5 exf5 29. Rh4 f4 30. Rd4 Rb8 31. h3 f3 32. g4 Rb1+ 33. Kh2 Rf1 34. Rd2 Re8 35. Kg3 Re2 36.

Rd8+ Kf7 37. Rd7+ Kg6 38. Rh8 Rexf2 39. Rg8 Rg2+ 40. Kf4 f2 41. Rgxg7+

Rd8+ Kf6

42. Rh7 Ke6 43. Kg5 1-0

L.Van Wely 2677 v V.Ivanchuk 2740 A04 1. Nf3 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. e4 e5 4. d4

exd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Qf6 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. Bd3 Nf6 10. h3 Nd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Qc2 Ne5 13. Be2 g5 14. Rad1 Be6 15. b3 Rfe8 16. Bh5 g4 17.

Bxg4 Bxg4 18. hxg4 Nxg4 19. Bf4 Be5 20. Qe2? Qh4 21. Qf3 Nh2 0-1

Final scores (12 players,av rating 2712,11 rounds) M.Carlsen(NOR 2765) 8,V.Ivanchuk (UKR 2740) 7,S.Karjakin (UKR 2732),P.Eljanov(UKR 2687) 6,A.Volokitin (UKR 2684),D.Jakovenko(RUS 2711),A.Shirov(ESP 2740) 5.5, E.Alekseev (RUS 2711),P.Svidler(RUS 2746),L.Nisipeanu (ROU 2684) 5,L.Van Wely (NED 2677) 4,A.Onischuk (USA 2664) 3.5

The Karen Asrian Memorial Rapid tournament in Yerevan,Armenia was won by local hero Levon Aronian scoring three wins and eleven draws. Final scores

(8 players,2719 av rating,14 rounds) L.Aronian(ARM 2763) 8.5,P.Leko(HUN

2741) 8,A.Morozevich(RUS 2774),B.Gelfand (ISR 2723) 7.5,X.Bu (CHN 2708) 7,G.Sargissian(ARM 2643) 6.5,M.Adams(ENG 2729) 6,V.Akopian (ARM 2673) 5.The event was held in memory of Grandmaster Karen Asrian (1980 -2008) who died of a heart attack on June 9th.Asrian played on board 3 for Armenia,the gold medalists at the last chess Olympiad in Turin,Italy 2006.The Championships of China were held last week in Beijing. Ni Hua (2704) won the men's title with 7.5/11 and Hou Yifan (2549) the women's with 9/11. IM Wang Puchen (NZ

2397) scored 8.5/13 (4 wins,9 draws,performance 2537 - a score of 9.5 was the target for his first Grandmaster norm) in a GM tournament in Budapest last week. GM Mark Bluvshtein(CAN 2544) won the event with 10 points(7

wins,6 draws).

Applicants for the Australian Olympiad team in Dresden,Germany 12-25 November are Men - Z.Zhao,D.Smerdon,S.Solomon,D.Johansen,G.Xie,A.Wohl,I.Goldenberg,I.Bjelobrk,G

.Lane. Women

-I.Berezina,A.Caoili,G.Nguyen,L.Moylan,B.Dekic,S.Oliver,A.Jule,N.Szuveges.

The annual Secondary Schools One-Day Teams Tournament for the Terrey Shaw Shield will be held on Sunday 29th June. The event commemorates International Master Terrey Shaw,a Sydney barrister who represented Australia with distinction in nine consecutive Chess Olympiads and who died in 1997.The tournament is sponsored by Terrey Shaw's former colleagues in the legal profession and in the chess community. Enquiries:Richard Gastineau-Hills,phone 9412-4579,or see NSW Junior Chess League's website www.nswjcl.org.au.

Six tie in NSW Open

Peter Parr (SMH 16/6/08)

 The NSW Open at Parramatta RSL had an exciting finish resulting in a six way tie for first place. Top seed GM Dejan Antic took the early lead with 4/4 but lost to the second seed IM Stephen Solomon in round 5. Tomek Rej (Australian Junior Champion 2003)caused a major upset beating Australian Champion Solomon in the following game in round 6.

T.Rej v S.Solomon E37 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nf3 Bf5 11. b4 O-O 12. Bb2 b6 13. b5 bxc5 14. bxc6 Qa5+ 15. Nd2 Rab8 16. c7 Rb3 17. Rd1 c4 18. g4 (18 e3 is Kasparov-Renet) Bg6 19. Bg2 Nxf2 20. Qxb3 cxb3 21. Kxf2 Qxc7 22. Nf3 Be4 23. Nd4 Re8 24. Bf3 Qf4 25. h4 h6 26. h5 Rc8 27. Rc1 Rc2 28. Nxc2 bxc2 29. Kg2 Qxg4+ 30. Kf2 Qf4 31. Rhg1 f6 32. Rg4 Qh2+ 33. Ke3 Qb8 34. Bxe4 Qxb2 35. Bxd5+ Kf8 36. Kd2 Qxa3 37. Bf3 Qa5+ 38. Kxc2 Qxh5 39. Kb3 Qe5 40. Re4 Qd6 41. Rc8+ Kf7 42. Rec4 Qd1+ 43. Kc3 Qa1+ 44. Kd3 f5 45. R4c6 Qd1+ 46. Kc4 Qa4+ 47. Kd5 Qa5+ 48. Kd4 Qa1+ 49. Ke3 Qg1+ 50. Kd2 Qd4+ 51. Kc2 Qa4+ 52. Kb2 Qb4+ 53. Kc1 Qa3+ 54. Kd2 Qa5+ 55. Ke3 Qe5+ 56. Kf2 f4 57. R6c7+ Kg6 58. Rc6+ Kf7 59. Rc5 Qd4+ 60. Kg2 g6 61. R8c7+ Kf6 62. Rd5 Qb6 63. Rdc5 Qb1 64. Rxa7 h5 65. Ra6+ Kg7 66. Rcc6 h4 67. Rxg6+ Kh7 68. Rgb6 h3+ 69. Kh2 1-0

Rej lost to GM Antic. NSWCA Vice-President Jason Hu conceded 3 draws to top players GM Antic,IM Kizov and FM Bjelobrk. Andrew Brown lost to IM Kizov and beat IM Xie. Jesse Sales lost to Antic,drew with Kizov and beat Bjelobrk. Leading final scores (50 players, 7 rounds) GM D.Antic (SRB 2476), IM S.Solomon (QLD 2441), T.Rej (NSW 2305), FM J.Sales (NSW 2307), J.Hu (NSW 2141), A.Brown (ACT 1925) all 5.5, J.Redgrave (NSW 1841)5. Vaness Reid (1496) won the 60 player under 1600 rated supporting event scoring six wins and one draw with Hamish Griffin who took second place with six points..

FIDE master Igor Goldenberg (2362) and Domagoj Dragicevic tied for first place with 6/7 in the 68 player Victorian Open Championship in Melbourne.The Queen's Birthday weekender in Adelaide was won by veteran Srboljub Zaric scoring 5/6 (15 players). The Tasmanian Open (25 players, 6 rounds) resulted in a 4 way tie for first place between N.Markovitz, D.Small, V.Horton and K.Bonham on 4.5 points.

The 4 tournaments above were all part of the Myer Tan Australian Grand prix (50 events in 2008).

Progress scores after 28 events:- IM S.Solomon(QLD) 58.44,FM G.Nakauchi(QLD) 35.50,GM Z.Zhang(CHN) 34.36,GM G.Jones (ENG) 34.36,GM V.Akobian(USA) 33.25.

Seventeen-year-old Magnus Carlsen leads the strong Aerosvit GM event in Foros,Ukraine . Carlsen won three long hard fought games in rounds 3,4,5 in 61,82,and 63 moves.  S.Karjakin 2732 v D.Jakovenko 2711 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Be3 Re8 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. h4 Qd7 14. Qd3 Qc6 15. Qf5 Qc4 16. Kb1 g6 17. Qh3 h5 18. Nd2 Qe2 19. Rde1 Qg4 20. Qh2 d5 21. f3 Qa4 22. g4 Bd6 23. Qg1 Ng7 24. Nb3 Qd7 25. Rd1 hxg4 26. fxg4 Re4 27. Rd4 Rae8 28. Bc1 Be5 29. Rxe4 dxe4 30. h5 gxh5 31. gxh5 Kh8 32. Qg5 f6 33. Qh6+ Kg8 34. Rg1 Qf7 35. Nd4 f5 36. Bf4 Bxf4 37. Qxf4 Kh7 38. Rg6 Re7 39. Qh6+ Kg8 40. Qg5 Kh7 41. Nxf5 Nxf5 42. Rf6 1-0.  Leading scores after round 6 - M.Carlsen(NOR 2765) 5,A.Volokitin (UKR 2684),S.Karjakin (UKR 2732) 3.5,P.Svidler(RUS 2746),P.Eljanov (UKR 2687),L.Nisipeanu (ROU 2684),A.Shirov (ESP2740),V.Ivanchuk (UKR 2740) 3. Yesterday's world ranking puts Carlsen up to second place - Anand 2798.1, Carlsen 2791.4, Kramnik 2788.0, Morozevich 2787.9.

Morozevich wins in Sarajevo

Peter Parr (SMH 9/6/08)

 Alexander Morozevich easily won the strong GM event in Sarajevo,Bosnia by starting with 6/7 and finishing with three draws to finish well clear of the field. Final scores(6 players, 2695 average rating, 10 rounds).A.Morozevich (RUS 2774) 7.5 (5 wins, 5 draws, performance 2872): L.Dominguez Perez (CUB

2695) 6: S.Movsesian (SVK 2695) 5: A.Timofeev (RUS 2664) 4.5: B.Predojevic (BIH 2651) 4: I.Sokolov (NED 2690) 3. The top six in the world's daily updated ratings yesterday were Anand 2798.1,Kramnik 2788.0,A.Morozevich 2787.9,V.Ivanchuk 2780.5,V.Topalov 2777.0,M.Carlsen 2775.4

Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov (Russia) and his challenger Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) met again last week in round 7 of the 4th Pivdenny Rapid Bank Chess Cup in Odessa,Ukraine.

A.Karpov 2655 v V.Korchnoi 2598  E32  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2

d6 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 c5 7. Nf3 O-O 8. dxc5 dxc5 9. b4 Nc6 10. Bb2 Qb6 11.

b5 Nd4 12. Nxd4 Ne4 13. Qe3 Qa5+ 14. Kd1 Qa4+ 15. Qb3 Qa5 16. Qe3 Qa4+ 17.

Nb3 Nxf2+ 18. Ke1 Nxh1 19. Qc3 1-0 ( White threatens Qxg7 mate as well as

Nxc5 winning the queen). Karpov (now aged 57)also beat Korchnoi (now aged

77) in the Candidates final match 1974 and World Title matches in 1978 and 1981. Vassily Ivanchuk (UKR) defeated World Champion Viswanathan Anand(IND)

2.5-1.5 in the final of the Rapid Play tournament in Leon,Spain.

Magnus Carlsen (NOR 2765) defeated Peter Leko (HUN 2741) 5-3(2 wins,6 draws) in a rapid match in Miskolc, Hungary. P.Leko v M.Carlsen Game 7 D12 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd2 Nbd7 9. Qc2 Be7 10. Be2 dxc4 11. Bxc4 O-O 12. O-O c5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Rfd1 Rc8 15. Be1 Qc7 16. Be2 Nce4 17. Qa4 Nxc3 18. Bxc3 Nd5 19. Bd4 a6 20. Bf3 Rfd8 21. Qb3 Bf6 22. g3 b6 23. Be2 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 a5 25. Ba6 Rb8 26. Be2 Rbc8 27.

Rc4 Qb8 28. Rac1 Rxc4 29. Qxc4 Ne7 30. Qb5 Kf8 31. b4 Rd5 32. Qa4 axb4 33.

Qxb4 Qd6 34. Qb3 Qd8 35. Rb1 Rd6 36. h4? Kg8 37. Bf3 Nf5 38. Rc1 Ne7 39. Kg2 Rd2! 40. Rc4 Nf5! 41. Kg1 Qf6! The last piece is well placed 42. Qxb6?(Qc3 was the only move) Qa1+! 43. Kg2 Qe1 44. Rc8+ Kh7 45. Qb8 Rxf2+ 46. Kh3 Qf1+ 47. Kg4 Nh6+ 48. Kf4 Rxf3+ 49. Ke4 f5+ 50. Ke5 Rxe3+ 51. Kd6 Qa6+ 52. Ke7

Qa3+ 53. Kd7 Rd3+ 0-1. The twelve player(av rating 2712 -

Carlsen,Svidler,Ivanchuk,Shirov,Karjakin etc) round robin started last night in  Foros,Ukraine. The eight player(av rating 2719 -Morozevich,Aronian,Leko,Adams etc)event starts tonight in Yerevan,Armenia.

Leading scores in the NSW Chess Association Inter-Club Grade Match Competition (8 clubs,26 teams in 4 graded divisions) Under 2100 - St George 8.5/12,Parramatta Yellow 7.5/12,Parramatta Blue 4.5/8.  Under 1800 - St George Dragons 8/12,Ryde-Eastwood 5/8. Under 1600 - Rooty Hill 9.5/12,St George Saints 9/12,N.Sydney Brown Bears 6.5/12,Manly 6.5/12. Under 1400 - St George Dragons 9.5/12,Rooty Hill 7.5/12,St George Saints 7/12.

 The NSWCA attracted 110 players(50 in the Open,60 in the under 1600 rated

event) to the NSW Open Queens Birthday Weekender at Parramatta. Ten players share the lead with 2/2 - GM D.Antic(SRB 2476),Australian Champion IM S.Solomon(QLD 2441),IM A.Kizov(MKD 2422),FM I.Bjelobrk(NSW 2393),FM J.Sales(NSW 2307),T.Rej(NSW 2305),A.Ayvazyan(NSW 2169),J.Hu(NSW 2141),P.Broekhuyse(NSW 2112),G.McNamara(NSW 2039). IM George Xie(NSW 2449)drew with Peter Sanders(SA 1802)in round 1 and beat 89-year-old former NSW Champion Lloyd Fell in round 2.There are 68 players competing in the Victorian Open Championship in Melbourne.

Go Moro

Peter Parr (SMH 2/6/08)

 Alexander Morozevich has scored five wins and three draws after eight rounds of the Bosnia Sarajevo tournament(performance rating 2933).The chess ratings of the world's leading players calculated daily sees Morozevich jump to second place just behind World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India).Leading ratings updated yesterday - V.Anand IND 2798,A.Morozevich RUS 2789,V.Kramnik RUS 2788,V.Ivanchuk UKR 2781,V.Topalov BUL 2777,M.Carlsen NOR 2775. Here are two wins by Morozevich in Sarajevo.

B.Predojevic 2651 v A.Morozevich 2774  C11 French Defence 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Ne2 Qb6 9. Qc1 g5 10. c3 cxd4 11. cxd4 Bb4+ 12. Kf2 f6 13. g3 g4 14. Nh4 fxe5 15. fxe5 Ndxe5 16. dxe5 d4 17. Bf4 Rf8 18. Kg2 Bd7 19. h3 d3 20. hxg4 dxe2 21. Bxe2 Nd4 22. Qe3 Bc5 23. b4 Qxb4 24. Rhb1 Qa5 25. Kh3 Nxe2 26. Qxe2 Bd4 27. Bh6 Rf2 28. Qe4 Bxa1 29. Rxa1 O-O-O 30. Bg5 Bc6 31. Rc1 Qd5 32. Qxh7 Qxa2 33. Rxc6+ bxc6 34. Nf3 Rxf3 35. Bxd8 Kxd8 0-1

A.Morozevich 2774 v S.Movsesian 2695  D15 Slav Defence 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. e3 b5 6. c5 Nbd7 7. Bd2 a5 8. Rc1 Ba6 9. a3 Qc7 10. b4 axb4 11. axb4 g6 12. Bd3 Bg7 13. O-O O-O 14. Ne2 Bb7 15. h3 Ra3 16. Bc3 Rfa8 17. Bb2 R3a6 18. Qb3 Ne8 19. Rfe1 e5 20. e4 dxe4 21. Bxe4 Ndf6 22. Ng3 exd4 23. Nxd4 Rd8 24. Bf3 Raa8 25. Ndf5 gxf5 26. Nxf5 Rd7 27. Nxg7 Kxg7 28. Qc3 Qf4 29. Re4 Qd2 30. Qe5 Ra2 31. Re2 Qh6 32. Rce1 Rxb2 33. Qxb2 Nc7 34. Bg4 Rd3 35. Re7 Ncd5 36. Rxb7 Rd2 37. Qe5 1-0 Standings after round 8 (6 players,2694 average rating,10 rounds) A.Morozevich (RUS 2774) 6.5,L.Diminguez Perez (CUB 2695) 5,S.Movsesian(SVK 2695) 4,I.Sokolov(NED 2690) and A.Timofeev(RUS 2664) 3,B.Predojevic(BIH 2651) 2.5

The Australian Chess Federation has rated 128 tournaments(91 classic,37 rapid)and 9735 games(6331 classic,3404 rapid) in the last three months. Leading players June 2008 - GM I.Rogers(NSW 2605)=,GM Z.Zhao(NSW 2591)+31,IM D.Smerdon(ACT 2463)-8,IM G.Xie(NSW 2449)+12,IM S.Solomon(QLD 2441)-3,GM D.Johansen(VIC 2423)+12,FM I.Bjelobrk(NSW 2393)-2,E.Ambrus(ACT 2377)+5,FM I.Goldenberg(VIC 2362)+4,IM P.Froehlich(QLD 2352(=). Rogers is retired,Zhao is the biggest winner,Wohl(NSW 2479)is no longer on the ACF active rating list but is very active overseas,Xie overtakes Australian Champion Solomon.

  Juniors-U20 & U18 M.Ly(QLD 2345),U16-M.Illingworth(NSW 2246),U14-FM J.Morris (VIC 2036),U12-L.Matheson(VIC 1686),U10-A.Sannidhanam(VIC 1532).Seniors over 60-IM M.Rujevic(VIC 2191),over 70-A.Flatow(NSW 2165),over 80-P.Viner(NSW 1943).Women WIM A.Caoili (QLD 2170),IM I.Berezina-Feldman (NSW 2143),G.Nguyen(SA 2121),WIM L.Moylan (NSW 1994),WIM B.Dekic(NSW 1962),WFM S.Oliver ACT 1799.Girls U20-WIM A.Jule(QLD 1785).

Leading final scores in the City of Parramatta Rapid(40 players,7 rounds) IM G.Xie 6,GM D.Antic,B.Mandla,FM J.Sales 5.5 The NSW Open Weekender,organized by the NSW Chess Association,will be held 7-9 June 2008 at Parramatta RSL. The tournament will be held in two divisions - Open and Under 1600.There are 6 major prizes and six rating prizes in the open and the under 1600 rated division has the richest prize-pool for under 1600's in Australia. Early entries in the open include GM Dejan Antic (SRB 2486),IM Atanas Kizov (MKD 2418) and IM Andras Toth(HUN 2410).

Ivanchuk wins Sofia by 1.5 points

Peter Parr (SMH 27/5/08)

 Vassily Ivanchuk achieved one of the best results of his career by scoring 8/10 (six wins,four draws,rating performance 2977)in the very strong M-Tel Masters in Sofia,Bulgaria. Former World Champion Veselin Topalov,the local hero,who has won all three previous M-Tel Masters finished with 6.5/10(rp 2841)- an excellent results but a full 1.5 points below the winner. Ivanchuk won his first five games. Round 5 L.Aronian 2763 v V.Ivanchuk 2740 D12   1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. a3 Nbd7 9. g3 Be7 10. b3 e5 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qa5+ 13. Nc3 Qxc3+ 14. Bd2 Qb2 15. d5 (new move 15 Bg2 exd4 16 exd4 Qxd4 is equal) cxd5 16. Bb5 a6 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. O-O e4 19. Bc3 Qxc3 20. Qxd5+ Ke8 21. Rac1 Qd3 22. Qxb7 Rd8 23. Rfd1 Qxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25. Kg2 a5 26. g4 Kf8 27. Qxe4 g5 28. Qf5 Bd8 29. Qc5+ Kg8 30. Qe5 g6 31. b4 axb4 32. axb4 Kh7 33. b5 Rf8 34. Qc5 Kg8 35. b6? Rb1 36. f4 Rb2+ 37. Kg3 gxf4+ 38. exf4 Bxb6 39. Qc3 Rb1 40. f5 Rg1+ 41. Kh3 Re8 42. Qf6 Bf2! 43. Qg7+ Kxg7 44. f6+ Kf8 (not 44..Kxf6 45 g5+! forces stalemate) 0-1

Round 10 V.Topalov 2767 v T.Radjabov 2751 B32   1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 b5 8. Nd5 Nf6 9. c4 b4 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Nc2 Qg6 12. Ne3 Be7 13. g3 Nd4 14. Bg2 Bb7 15. Nf5 Qxf5 !?(an amazing queen sacrifice)16. exf5 Bxg2 17. Rg1 Bf3 18. Qd3 (the game GM Klovans-GM Sveshnikov Riga 2005 saw 18 Qa4+ Bc6 19 Qd1 0.5-0.5) d5 19. cxd5 Rc8 20. Be3 Nc2+ 21. Kf1 e4 22. Qxa6 O-O 23. Rb1 Nxe3+ 24. fxe3 Rc2 25. h4 Rd8 26. Qb7 Kf8 27. a4 Rd2 28. Rc1 R2xd5 Radjabov forces a draw by perpetual check)29. Rc8 Rd1+ 30. Kf2 R1d2+ 31. Ke1 Rd1+ 32. Kf2 R1d2+ 33. Ke1 Rd1+ 34. Kf2 R1d2+ 1/2-1/2.  Final scores (6 players, 10 rounds, average rating 2738) - V.Ivanchuk (UKR 2740) 8, V.Topalov (BUL 2767) 6.5, T.Radjabov (AZE 2751) 5.5, I.Cheparinov (BUL 2695) 4, L.Aronian (ARM 2763), X.Bu (CHN 2708) 3.

Grandmaster Yuri Shulman has won the United States Championship in Tulsa,Oklahoma. Shulman was born in Belarus(former USSR)in 1975,won the European Junior in 1995 and moved to the USA in 1999. Leading final scores (24 players,9 rounds) GM Y.Shulman (2606) 7,GM A.Onischuk(born in Ukraine 2664)6.5,GM S.Kudrin (born in former USSR 2549) 6. Ukraine émigré WGM Anna Zatonskih(2458) who lives in New York and is married to GM Daniel Fridman (GER 2640)won the US Women's Title.  International Master Aleks Wohl (NSW 2412) scored 4.5/9 in the President's Cup tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan. Wohl seeded 45th finished 84th (after losing to GM A.Beliavsky SLO 2641 and M.Askerov AZE 2154 in the last two rounds) in the 180 player event which included 38 grandmasters. The event was won by GM Evgeniy Najer (RUS 2627)scoring 7.5/9.

The Grand Prix Open at Mingara Recreation Club,Tumbi Umbi(Central Coast)had reduced entry fees but more prizemoney due to generous sponsorship. The top two seeds Xie and Bjelobrk drew in round four and third seed Illingworth drew with Bjelobrk in round 5.Leading final scores (23 players, 7 rounds) IM G.Xie (2437) 6.5, FM I.Bjelobrk (2395) 6, P.Broekhuyse (2103) & B.Mandla (1942) 5,M.Illingworth(2303) and H.Rachmadi(1663) 4.5. The above scores counted for the Grand Prix. The top four finishers competed for an extra $500 donated by Keith Hogan. Xie beat Mandla and Bjelobrk beat Broekhuyse in the semi-final play off. Bjelobrk defeated Xie in the final,Broekhuyse was third.

The NSW Open,the NSW Chess Association's Premier Grand Prix Weekender,will be held over 7 rounds on 7-9 June at Parramatta RSL.

8500 players in

NSW schools event

Peter Parr (SMH 19/5/08)

The NSW Junior League's main primary and secondary schools teams competitions for 2008 have commenced. The primary schools competition is being held in 36 zones across the state with nearly 1000 teams from 370 schools.In the secondary schools competition nearly 300 teams from 82 schools are taking part in metropolitan areas,with strong growth in the west and south-west of Sydney. A separate country districts competition started last term with 140 schools.

Matches are held weekly in second and third terms with finals taking place in third and fourth terms. As each team consists of four players a total of nearly 6000 school students are competing each week. However,with the substitution of reserves during the season it is expected that approximately 8500 players will take part before the competitions have finished.

The NSW Chess Association inter-club grade match competition starts tonight with 26 teams from 8 clubs. St George has 7 teams,Parramatta RSL and Norths 4 teams each. There is no open division for the first time this year leaving 4 divisions. Under 2100 - 5 teams, Under 1800 - 5 teams,Under 1600 - 9 teams,Under 1400-7 teams.

The NSWCA Teams Challenge rapid play at Parramatta (12 teams, 7 rounds) was won by Sydney Academy of Chess (Max Illingworth 7/7, Andrew Bird 5.5, Simon Quick 6, Nicholas Chernih 3/4) scoring 21.5/28. The City of Parramatta rapid will be held over 7 rounds at Parramatta RSL on Sunday 25 May.  St George defeated Norths 22.5 - 17.5 in a 40 board match at St George Leagues Club last week. Grandmaster Zong-Yuan Zhao(St George) beat Max Illingworth(Norths) on top board.

International Master Aleks Wohl (NSW) seeded 45th has scored 3.5/6 and is currently 46th equal in the President's Cup (180 players including 38 grandmasters) in Baku,Azerbaijan.

Vassily Ivanchuk won every game (5/5) in the first half of the M-Tel Masters Super tournament in Sofia,Bulgaria. Ivanchuk slowed down in the second half with four draws and is a full point ahead of former world champion Veselin Topalov(who lost to Bu in round 9) in second place with one round left to play.

V.Ivanchuk 2740 v I.Cheparinov 2695  E99   1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Nf6 12. f3 f4 13. c5 g5 14. Rc1 Ng6 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. Nb5 Rf7 17. Qc2 Ne8 18. Nf2 h5 19. a4 Bf8 20. h3 Rg7 21. Qb3 Nh4 22. Rc2 g4 23. fxg4 Nf6 24. Be1 hxg4 25. hxg4 Nh5 26. Nh1 f3 27. Bxf3 Nf4 28. Ng3 Bxg4 29. Bxg4 Rxg4 30. Nc7 Rc8 31. Ne6 Rxc2 32. Qxc2 Qb6+ 33. Kh1 Nhxg2 34. Nf5 Qa6 35. Rg1 Qd3 36. Qxd3 Nxd3 37. Bh4 Rxe4 38. Rxg2+ Kf7 39. Nxd6+! Bxd6 40. Ng5+ 1-0

V.Topalov 2767 v Bu Xiangzhi 2708  D19   1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Ne4 10. Ne5 Nd7 11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Na2 Be7 13. f3 Nf6 14. e4 Bg6 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Nc1(N) a5 17. Nd3 Nd7 18. Rac1 Rfe8 19. g3 Bd6 20. Nf4 e5 21. Nxg6 hxg6 22. f4 exd4 23. Bxd4 b6? 24. f5 g5 25. Qh5 Nf6 26. Bxf6 gxf6 27. Qg6+ Kf8 28. Qxf6 Be5 29. Qxg5 Qe7 30. f6 Bd4+ 31. Rf2 1-0

Progress scores after round 9 (6 players,10 rounds, average rating 2738) V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2740) 7 (performance 2959),V.Topalov(BUL 2767) 6 (performance 2849),T.Radjabov(AZE 2751) 5,I.Cheparinov(BUL 2695) 4,L.Aronian(ARM 2763),X.Bu(CHN 2708) 2.5.

Triple Tie in Baku

Peter Parr (SMH 12/5/08)

 Vugar Gashimov, Yue Wang & Magnus Carlsen tied for first place in the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Baku,Azerbaijan. Seventeen-year-old  Carlsen,the top seed and World number five, started slowly with 6/11 but won his last two games.  M. Carlsen 2765 v M.Adams 2729 (Round 12) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 Ne4 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 Nc6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. e3 Qa5+ 11. b4 Nxb4 12. axb4 Qxa1 13. Bb5+ Kf8 14. Ne2 a6 15. Bd3 Bd7 16. f3 Ba4 17. Qb2 Qxb2 18. Bxb2 Ng5 19. Nd4 (TN) white has compensation for the exchange Bd7 20. Kf2 f6 21. Ra1 Ke7 22. Bc2 Rhd8 23. h4 Nf7 24. Bxh7 Rh8 25. Bc2 Rxh4 26. Bb3 Rh5 27. Ne2 Bc6 28. Nf4 Rg5 29. b5 Bxb5 30. Nxd5+ Kf8 31. Nc7 Rd8 32. Ne6+ Ke8 33. Bd4 Bd7 34. Nxd8 Nxd8 35. Rh1 Ke7 36. e4 Ne6 37. Be3 Re5 38. Rh7 Kf8 39. Bc2 Bc6 40. f4 Bxe4 41. Rh8+ Ke7 42. Rb8! Nd8 43. fxe5 Bxc2 44. exf6+ gxf6 45. Bd4 f5 46. Be3 Kd7 47. Bg5 Ne6 48. Rxb7+ Kc8 49. Rb2 Be4 50. Be7 Nf4 51. Ra2 Kd7 52. Bd6 Nxg2 53. Rxa6 f4 54. Ra4 Bc6 55. Ra7+ Ke6 56. Ra6 Kd5 1-0

All 14 players finished within 1.5 points of 50%. Final scores(14 players, average rating 2717,13 rounds) V.Gashimov (AZE 2679), Y.Wang (CHN 2689), M.Carlsen (NOR 2765) 8, S. Mamedyarov (AZE 2752), A. Grischuk (RUS 2716) 7.5, M.Adams (ENG 2729), P.Svidler (RUS 2746) 6.5, T.Radjabov (AZE 2751), G.Kamsky (USA 2726), S.Karjakin (UKR 2732) 6, I.Cheparinov (BUL 2695), D.Navara (CZE 2672) 5.5, E.Bacrot (FRA 2705), E. Inarkiev (RUS 2684) 5.

The President of the Republic of Bulgaria Georgi Parvanov officially opened the M-Tel Masters in Sofia. Six players with an average rating of 2738 are competing in a double round robin event. Ivanchuk has taken the early lead with 3/3 including a win against the top seed former World Champion Veselin Topalov,the local hero.  Black could have resigned after only nine moves in this third round game played on Saturday evening. Vassily Ivanchuk 2740  - Bu Xiangzhi 2708 (A11) 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 d5 4 e3 a6 5 Qc2 b5 6 b3 Bg4 7 Ne5 Bh5 8 cxb5 cxb5 9 Bxb5+ - Bu totally overlooked this winning move!- axb5 10 Nxb5 e6 11 Nc7+ Ke7 12 Nxa8 and white won. Progress scores -V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2740) 3,V.Topalov(BUL 2767) 2,I.Cheparinov(BUL 2695) 1.5,L.Aronian(ARM 2763),T.Radjabov(AZE 2751) 1,X.Bu (CHN 2708) 0.5. IM Puchen Wang (NZL 2397) drew with GM J.Arizmendi-Martinez (2516) in the last round in Benidorm,Spain scoring 7/10(PR 2414).

St George Club Championship(10 players,9 rounds) A.Rose  (2081) 8, N.Radev (1854) 6.5, A.Huynh (1850) 5.5. Leading final scores in the Centenary Club Championship at Norths(incorporating Chatswood CC) FIDE Rated title event(12 players,11 rounds) FM V.Smirnov(2318) 10,M.Illingworth (2152) 9. The Manly Club Champion is Allan McGregor scoring 8.5/9. Manly (av 1414) beat Norths (av 1442) 11.5 - 5.5 last week. Allan McGregor (Manly 1889) defeated Stephen Javor (Norths 1740) on top board. The St.George v Norths match will be held  tomorrow evening.  Results of the Laurieton Grand Prix tournament (17 players, 7 rounds) FM V.Smirnov 2294 7, C.Rowlison 1839 5.5, D.Castor 2038 5, M.Canfell 1754, R.Eccles 1626 4.

The next Grand Prix event will be held at The Mingara Recreation Club,Tumbi Umbi(Central Coast)May 17-18. The event is seven rounds with reduced entry fees,open and divisional prizes. The top four finishers will be invited to a guillotine rapid play-off for further prizes. Ivan Kodzoman has won the Wyong Shire Cup tournament.

Champions Tiviakov and Lahno

Peter Parr (SMH 5/5/08) 

The European Individual Championships took place in Plovdiv,Bulgaria. GM Sergey Tiviakov(NED 2634,age 35) won the mens title (337 players,including 186 GM,67 IM) and 18-year-old GM Kateryna Lahno (UKR 2479,WGM at age 12)the womens title(159 players including 43 GM) each scoring 8.5/11.

In the following game a strong Russian GM loses in only 11 moves with the white pieces! S.Grigoriants (RUS 2573)v P.Tregubov(RUS 2629) A34 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 e4 7. Ne5 Bb4 8. Bd2 Nxd4 9. Nxe4 Qe7 10. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 11. Qd2 Nxe4! 0-1

E.L'Ami (NED 2600)v V.Bologan (MDA 2665) E97 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 a5 11. bxa5 Rxa5 12. Nd2 Nf4 13. Bf1 b6 14. a4 Bd7 15. Nb3 Ra8 16. a5 bxa5 17. Rxa5 Rxa5 18. Nxa5 Qb8 19. Nb5 f5 20. Bxf4 exf4 21. exf5 Nxf5 22. Nc6 Qb6 23. Ne7+ Kf7 24. Nxf5 Bxf5 25. Qd2 f3 26. g3 Bd7 27. c5! dxc5 28. d6! Kg8 29. Nxc7 Bd4 30. Ne6 Rf6? 31. Nxd4 cxd4 2. Qa2+ Kh8 33. Re7 Qd8 34. Qd5 Bf5 35. d7 1-0

D.Pavasovic (SLO 2595) v V.Baklan (UKR 2647) C06  1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 9. Ng5 fxg5 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Bxg6+ hxg6 12. Qxg6+ Ke7 13. Ne4 Ndxe5 14.dxe5 Kd7 15. Nf6+ Kc7 16. Qxg5 Qe7 17. a3 Bd7 18. Qg3 b6 19. Bg5 Qg7 20. b4 Kb7 21. h4 Be7 22. O-O Rhd8 23. f4 Rac8 24. Qd3 Be8 25. b5 Bc5+ 26. Kh1 Nd4 27. a4 Bg6 28. Qh3 Rh8 29. h5 Bxh5 0-1. The top 22 qualified for the 2009 World Cup.The top 12 women qualified for the next stage of the Women's World Championship.

Wang Yue and Alexander Grischuk who shared the lead after five rounds of the FIDE Grand Prix remain undefeated with performance ratings above 2800 and are joint leaders with two rounds to play in Baku,Azerbaijan.   T.Radjabov 2751 v M.Carlsen 2765(top seed) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. Bb3 Rc8 11. h4 h5 12. O-O-O Ne5 13. Bg5 Rc5 14. Kb1 Re8 15. g4 hxg4 16. h5 Nxh5 17. Rxh5 gxh5 18. Qh2 Ng6 19. Qxh5 Qa5 20. f4 Rxg5 21. fxg5 e6 22. Nf5 exf5 23. Qxg6 Be6 24. Qh5 fxe4 25. Rf1 Qe5 26. Rxf7 Bxb3 27. axb3 g3 28. Ka2 Rf8 29. Rxf8+ Kxf8 30. Qg4 e3 31. g6 e2? 32. Qf3+? Ke8 33. Qf7+ Kd8 34. Qg8+ Kd7 35. Qf7+ Qe7 36. Qf5+ Kd8 37. Qa5+ b6 38. Qd5 e1=Q 39. Qa8+ Kd7 40. Qb7+ Ke8 0-1

Progress scores after 11 rounds (14 players, average rating 2717, 13 rounds). Wang Yue (CHN 2689) and A.Grischuk(RUS 2716) 7,V.Gashimov (AZE 2679) 6.5,S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2752),M.Carlsen (NOR 2765),M.Adams(ENG 2729) 6,T.Radjabov (AZE 2751),G.Kamsky(USA 2726) 5.5,E.Bacrot(FRA 2705),I.Cheparinov(BUL 2695),S.Karjakin(UKR 2732) 5,P.Svidler(RUS 2746),E.Inarkiev(RUS 2684) 4.5,D.Navara(CZE 2672) 3.5

IM Puchen Wang(NZL 2397) has so far scored 6.5/9 - below a 2600 GM norm performance -in Benidorm,Spain.I returned to Sydney from New Zealand on Saturday where plans are well advanced for the Queenstown Chess Classic 15-24 Jan 2009. A New Zealand  record prize fund of NZ $50,000 is guaranteed with an additional $6500 NZ prize money for subsidiary events. The 10 round classic (incorporating the 116th New Zealand Championship) is open to all players.The venue is the ballroom of the Millennium Hotel, Queenstown with inspiring views over the mountains and Lake Wakatipu.  The NSWCA Teams Challenge one day rapid play event will be held on Sunday 11 May at Parramatta RSL Club.

Grischuk and Yue lead in Baku

Peter Parr (SMH 28/4/08) 

Alexander Grischuk and Wang Yue share the lead after five rounds of the first of a series of World Chess Federation(FIDE) Grand Prix tournaments in Baku,Azerbaijan. 21-year-old Wang Yue (World Under 12 Champion in 1999),seeded 11th,has the best performance rating so far(2871).

Vugar Gashimov 2679 v Peter Svidler 2746  B43 1 e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 b5 6. Be2 Bb7 7. Bf3 Qc7 8. O-O Bd6 (better was 8..Nc6)9. a4 Bxh2+ 10. Kh1 Be5 11. axb5 Nf6 12. Be3 O-O 13. Qd3 d6 14. Rfd1 Nfd7 15. Qd2 Rc8 16. Be2 Nf6 17. f4 Bxd4 18. Qxd4 d5 19. bxa6 Nxa6 20. e5 Ne8 21. f5 Nc5 22. Bb5 Qd8 23. Rxa8 Bxa8 24. f6 Nd7 25. fxg7 Qc7 26. Bf4 Qb7 27. Rd3 Nxg7 28. Bxd7 Rc4 29. Qf2 Qxd7 30. Rg3 Kh8 31. Bg5 1-0

Progress scores after round 5 (14 players, average rating 2717, 13 rounds) A.Grischuk (RUS 2716),Wang Yue(CHN 2689) 3.5,T.Radjabov(AZE 2751,age 21),V.Gashimov(AZE 2679,age 21),G.Kamsky(USA 2726),M.Adams(ENG 2729) 3,S.Karjakin(UKR 2732),S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2752),E.Bacrot(FRA 2705),M.Carlsen(NOR 2765,top seed,age 17) 2.5,E.Inarkiev(RUS 2684),P.Svidler(RUS 2746) 2,D.Navara(CZE 2672) 1.5,I.Cheparinov(BUL 2696) 0.5.

Meanwhile in Plovdiv,Bulgaria there are 496 players competing in the European Individual Championship. Here is a fine win by the early leader Emil Sutovsky(born in Baku,European Champion 2001) E.Sutovsky (ISR 2630) v P.Vavrak (SVK 2466)  C06 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O a5 9. Re1 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qb6 11. Nb1 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Qxd4 13. Nc3 Bc5 (13... Qb6 is more usual)14. Nb5 Qxf2+ 15. Kh1 O-O 16. Bg5 Bb4 17. Rf1!(Novelty) Qxb2 18. a3 Bc5 19. Bf4! Nxe5 20. Bxh7+ Kxh7 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Bxe5 Qxb5 23. Bxg7! f5 24. Be5 Rd8 25. Rf3 Kf8 26. Rg3 1-0.

Leading scores after round 6 (337 players including 186 grandmasters,67 IM's,11 rounds) GM S.Movsesian(SVK 2695) and GM E.Sutovsky(ISR 2630) 5.5,GM R.Mamedov(AZE 2617),GM P.Tregubov(RUS 2629),GM L.Pantsulaia(GEO 2617) 5 with 21 GM's on 4.5. The top 22 qualify for the World Cup.

Women (159 players,including 43 grandmasters,11 rounds)IM V.Cmilyte(LTU 2466,IM A.Ushenina(UKR 2474),IM E.Kovalevskaya(RUS 2421) 5/6. The top 12 qualify for the next stage of the Womens World Championship.

Leading final scores in the Sydney Rapid Grand Prix held on Saturday at Bonnyrigg Sports Club (40 players, 7 rounds). GM D.Antic(SER 2482)and FM J.Sales(PHI 2104) 6.5,FM L.Jones(2079),A.Pan(1191,aged only 9) and B.Urdanegui(1642) 5. The Hakoah Cup held over 9 consecutive Monday evenings starts tonight at The Hakoah Club,Bondi.The next Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix event will be held at Laurieton Services Club over 7 rounds on 3-4 May.

The NSW Junior League's Autumn Two-Day Tournament has been won by Jamie Boyce,playing in his last tournament as a junior(he turns 18 shortly). He was undefeated but conceded two draws to score 9 out of 10,half a point ahead of Dawen Shi(aged 14) and John Papantoniou(13). Several younger players did well - Oscar Wang(aged 10) scored 8 points,while Anton Smirnov(7),Sean Gu(8)and Harry Yuan(9)all scored 7.5 points.The event was contested by 263 players.

Wesley So Good in Dubai

Peter Parr (SMH 21/4/08) 

The World's youngest grandmaster Wesley So,aged 14,had a very good result(performance rating 2708) in Dubai (prize fund AUS $48000) winning the Cup on countback in a field of 131 players from 25 countries including 29 grandmasters.   GM Wesley So (PHI 2540) v World Junior Under 20 Champion GM Ahmed Adly (EGY 2578)  B99  1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Nbd7 8. Qf3 Be7 9. O-O-O Qc7 10. Bd3 h6 11. Bh4 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5 13. Qe2 Nfg4 14. Nf3 Nxf3 15. Qxf3 Ne5 16. Qh5 Ng6 17. Bg3 hxg5 18. Qf3 Ne5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Rdf1 Rh7 21. h4 gxh4 22. Qg4 Rh6 23. g3 Rg6 24. Qf3 Rf6 25. Qh5 Rxf1+ 26. Rxf1 hxg3 27. Qxf7+ Kd7 28. Rd1 Kc6 29. Qg6 Bh4 30. Nd5 Qd6 31. Qe8+ Bd7 32. Qxa8 exd5 33. Bxa6 Qc7 34. Rxd5 Bg5+ 35. Kb1 Qb6 36. Bb5+ Qxb5 37. Rxb5 1-0.  Leading final scores GM W.So(PHI 2540),GM M.Gagunashvili(GEO 2553),GM E.Ghaem(IRI 2604),GM B.Li(CHN 2581) all 7/9.

Illya Nyzhnyk (age 11 years,7 months)has scored his first grandmaster norm by winning the Nabakov Memorial International GM tournament in Kiev,Ukraine. Nyzhnyk was undefeated scoring 8.5/11(performance 2619).GM Y.Kruppa(UKR 2543) was 2nd with 8 and GM S.Vysochin(UKR 2521)3rd with 7 points.  S.Bargan (MDA 2404) v FM I.Nyzhnyk(UKR 2397) B48   1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Qd2 Nf6 8. O-O-O d6 9. f3 Be7 10. g4 b5 11. h4 Bb7 12. Kb1 Rc8 13. g5 Nd7 14. h5 Nce5 15. a3 Nb6 16. Qg2 Nbc4 17. Bxc4 Nxc4 18. Bc1 Qb6 19. g6 Bf6 20. Nce2 d5 21. Bg5 b4 22. a4 Na3+ 23. bxa3 bxa3+ 24. Nb5 a2+ 25. Kxa2 Rxc2+ 26. Kb1 Rb2+ 27. Kc1 Qc5+ 0-1. Results at age 7 gave him a FIDE rating of 2119 and at age 10 he scored 8.5/9 winning the under 2300 Moscow Open(performance 2633).Nyzhnyk may become the youngest GM ever - 2 more norms needed and 2500+ rating.

The first of a series of World Chess Federation (FIDE) Grand Prix tournaments starts tonight in Baku, Azerbaijan (The birthplace of Garry Kasparov 13 April 1963). Fourteen grandmasters with an average rating of 2717 will compete in the round robin event 21 April-5 May. The top seeds are World no 5 seventeen-year-old Magnus Carlsen(NOR 2765),S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2752),T.Radjabov(AZE 2751),P.Svidler(RUS 2746),S.Karjakin(UKR 2732). The winner of the series at the end of 2009 will play the winner of the World Cup for the right to challenge the World Champion in September 2010.

The European Individual Championships(prize fund AUS $237,000) also starts tonight in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. 332 players including 187 grandmasters,188 rated above 2500,69 above 2600 compete for World Title qualifying places. 165 are in the Womens event including 145 titled players.

Leading final scores in the Dubbo RSL Grand Prix weekender (30 players,6 rounds) Tony Weller (QLD 1759) 6,David Castor(NSW 2038) and Allen Setiabudi(ACT 1591) 5.The next rapid grand Prix event will be held at Bonnyrigg Sports Club on Saturday 26th April over 7 rounds.

Two nine-year-olds finished in the top three places in the NSW Junior League's Autumn One-Day Tournament,which attracted 252 players ranging in age from 6 to 17. Many other young players did well;11 of the top 12 scorers were aged under 15. Sharing first place with 7.5 points out of 8 were Andrew Pan(9) and relative veteran Adrian Miranda(14). Half a point behind them was Harry Ruan(aged 9).Nine players,including eight-year-old Sean Gu,shared fourth place on 6.5 points. The League's Autumn Two-Day Tournament will take place on Wednesday and Thursday,23-24 April. For details see www.nswjcl.org.au or contact Richard Gastineau-Hills,phone 9412 4579.

Ural draws its way to victory

Peter Parr (SMH 14/4/08) 

Ural Ekaterinburg (Shirov,Grischuk,Malakhov,Akopian,Dreev,Motylev)drew its way to victory in the tenth round of the Russian Teams Championship in Sochi on the Black Sea with 6 quick draws ranging from 9-13 moves each. Ural,the top seeds also with Radjabov Bd 1 and Kamsky Bd 3, have won the title with a round to spare. There were 94 players(91 of them Grandmasters) in the 12 teams including 16 rated above 2700 and 61 rated higher than 2600. Here are 3 games from the event. B.Gelfand 2723 v A.Shirov 2740  A16 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qb3 Nb6 7. d4 Be6 8. Qc2 Bg7 9. e4 Bg4 10. Ne5 Bxe5 11. dxe5 Nc6 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. Bxc6 Bxc6 14. Be3 Qd7 15. Rd1 Qe6 16. O-O O O 17. f4 Rad8 18. Bd4 f5 19. exf6 exf6 20. f5 gxf5 21. Rxf5 Be8 22. Qf2 Bg6 23. Rf4 Nd7 24. Rf1 Ne5 25. Nd5 Nd3 26. Rxf6 Rxf6 27. Nxf6+ Kf7 28. Qe3 c5 29. Nxh7+ Ke8 30. Nf6+ Ke7 31. Bxc5+ Nxc5 32. Qxc5+ Qd6 33. Qg5 Qd4+ 34. Kh1 1-0

 E.Inarkiev 2684 v N.Vitiugov 2617 C11 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. g3 b4 10. Ne2 a5 11. f5 cxd4 12. Nexd4 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Nxe5 14. O-O-O Bd7 15. Bf4 Nc4 16. Qe2 Qf6 17. Bg2 Be7 18. Rhe1 g5 19. fxe6 Bxe6 20. b3 gxf4 21. bxc4 Bc5 22. cxd5 Bxd4 23. dxe6 Be3+ 24. Kb1 Rc8 25. gxf4 Rc3 26. Qb5+ 1-0  T.Radjabov 2751 v B.Grachev 2610 B48 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4 Bb4 8. Ndb5 Qa5 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bd2 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Be7 12. c4 Qd8 13. Bd3 d6 14. O-O O-O 15. Nxd6 Bxd6 16. exd6 Qxd6 17. Bc3 f5 18. Kh1 e5 19. fxe5 Qa3 20. Qe1 Be6 21. Rb1 b6 22. g4 g6 23. gxf5 gxf5 24. Qg3+ Kh8 25. Bxf5 Nd4 26. Be4 Qc5 27. Qh4 Nf5 28. Rxf5 Rxf5 29. Bxf5 1-0

 The 10th annual Dubai Open leading scores after round 7 (132 players from 25 countries including 29 grandmasters) GM W.So(PHI 2540),GM M.Gagunashvili(GEO 2553) and GM Li Chao (CHN 2581) all 6 points.

The youngest grandmaster in the world Wesley So aged 14 from Manila, Philippines is the joint leader with six wins and one loss.

 Leading final scores in the Bangkok Open (99 players from 22 countries, 9 rounds): Deshun Xiu (CHN 2371) 8 (performance 2679), Z.Zhang (CHN 2384) 7.5, GM S.Li (CHN 2512), GM V.Akobian (USA 2601) 7.

M.Drummund NSW 2235 and FM T.Reilly NSW 2271  scored 6 points and S.Watharow NSW 2117  3.5.  Andrei Krawcheni VIC scored 4.5/7 and Ross Hamilton NSW 3/7 in the 43 players supporting event.

Ivan Kodzoman has scored 5.5/6 in the Wyong Shire Cup at Central Leagues Club,Gosford. Leading final scores in the Henry Greenfield Cup at Hakoah Club, Bondi - J.Bolens 7/9, IM I.Berezina 6.5,O.Raykhman,M.Pevzner,Dr V.Zeldovich 6. The lightning tournament will be held this evening and the Hakoah Cup over 9 rounds commences on 28 April. 

The Centenary Club Championship at Norths (incorporating Chatswood CC) is being held in six divisions. Leading scores in the title event (12 players, 11 rounds) FM V.Smirnov (2318) and  B.Atzmon-Simon (2142) 7/8, M.Illingworth (2152) 6.5/8, A.Chek (2095) 4/8, L.Benson (2004) 3.5/7. The St. George Leagues Club Championship is in progress with 6 divisions.Leading scores in the title event (10 players, 9 rounds) A.Rose (2081) 6/6, N.Radev (1854) 4.5/6,A.Huynh (1850) 4/6 J.Watson (1853) 3.5/6. Allan McGregor leads the Manly Club Championship with 6/6 and Noel Mangrobang has scored 4/4 in the Rooty Hill RSL Autumn Swiss. The club events are held in preparation for the New South Wales Chess Association inter-club grade match competition (four players per team) which commences next month.

Carlsen Biggest Winner

Peter Parr (SMH 7/4/08)

17-year-old Magnus Carlsen is the biggest winner on the new world rating list jumping from World number 13 to no 5 in the last four months. Carlsen(GM at age 13) increased his rating by 32 points and is now only 38 points behind World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Leading players on the April 2008 World Rating List - V.Anand(IND 2803)+4,V.Kramnik(RUS 2788)-11,A.Morozevich(RUS 2774)+9,V.Topalov(BUL 2767)-13,M.Carlsen(NOR 2765)+32,L.Aronian(ARM 2763)+24,S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2752)-8,T.Radjabov(AZE 2751)+16,P.Svidler(RUS 2746)-17,P.Leko(HUN 2741)-12. Juniors: M.Carlsen (NOR 2765), S.Karjakin (UKR 2732), H.Wang (CHN 2684).Women: J.Polgar (HUN 2709), H.Koneru (IND 2603), J.Xie (CHN 2574),Y.Hou (CHN 2549), P.Cramling (SWE 2539).

Leading countries (126, average top 10) Russia 2719 (147 GM, 264 IM, 1039 titled), Ukraine 2684 (65 GM), China 2636 (19 GM),Israel 2635 (31 GM), USA 2634 (34 GM). Australia is ranked 52 at 2450 (2 GM, 13 IM, 41 titled) and New Zealand is 64 at 2350 (1 GM, 5 IM, 19 titled). Leading Australian players - GM I.Rogers 2545(=), IM Z.Zhao 2541(+54)-Zhao will be listed as a Grandmaster on May 3rd,IM S.Solomon 2472(+4),IM D.Smerdon(2462)+3,GM D.Johansen 2453(-22),IM G.Xie 2417(+4),IM A.Wohl 2412(-6),IM M.Chapman 2402(=), IM J.Wallace 2398(=), A.Kanikevich 2394(=). Women IM I.Berezina 2246, WM A.Sorokina 2194, WM A.Caoili 2144, WM B.Dekic 2134, WM L.Moylan 2122.

Teenager Deshun Xiu (CHN 2371) leads the Bangkok Open A Group(99 players from 22 countries) with 7/8 (rating performance 2662). The winner of the Doeberl Cup Easter weekend tournament in Canberra GM V.Akobian(USA 2601)the top seed has 6.5. Scores of the three Sydney players are M.Drummond (AUS 2235) 5.5,FM T.Reilly (AUS 2271) 5,S.Watharow (AUS 2117) 3.

The Russian Teams Championship is being held in the Black Sea Resort of Sochi 1-14 April (12 teams,11 rounds) The top seeds Ural Ekaterinburg (Radjabov(AZE),Shirov(ESP),Kamsky(USA),Grischuk(RUS),Malakhov(RUS),Akopian(ARM),Dreev(RUS),Motylev(RUS) average rating 2702) have taken the early lead by winning their first four matches scoring 16.5/24. The following game is the best so far in the event.

GM Bu, Xiangzhi(CHN 2708) v GM Zvjaginsev, Vadim(RUS 2674) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Nge2 a6 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Bd7 9. h4 h5 10. Bh6 e5 11. O-O-O b5 12. Nd5 Re8 13. g4 hxg4 14. h5 gxf3 15. hxg6 fxg6 16. Nec3 Nxd4 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nxf6 Qxf6 19. Nd5 Qf8 20. Qh6+ Kf7 21. Qg5 Qg7 22. Rxd4 exd4 23. Qf4+ Bf5 24. exf5 g5 25. Qg4 Re1+ 26. Kd2 Rae8 27. Qh5+ 1-0. Bu became a grandmaster at the age of 13 in 1999 achieving his 3 GM results in only 35 days.  The Tomsk-400 team with three players rated above 2700 has lost all 4 matches so far(Karjakin lost to Bu in rd 4) scoring 9/24. Every team is very strong. Presidents George Bush and Vladimir Putin were in Sochi over the weekend.

Progress scores in the Myer Tan Australian Grand Prix 2008 after 16 of the 49 events - IM S.Solomon(QLD) 45.11,GM Z.Zhang(SIN) and GM G.Jones(ENG) each 34.36,GM V.Akobian(USA) 33.25,FM G.Nakauchi(QLD) 25.00.  The next GP event will be the 6 round Dubbo RSL Open 12-13 April. Leading final scores in the City of Sydney Rapid Play held on Saturday afternoon at Parramatta RSL (42 players, 7 rounds) - GM D.Antic(SER) 2490,M.Illingworth 2247,IM G.Xie 2484,IM D.Swiercz (POL 2413) all 5.5,IM A.Kizov (MKD 2450),FM V.Smirnov 2405,FM J.Sales(PHI 2006) all 5.

GANGULY WINS ON TIEBREAK

Peter Parr (SMH 31/3/08)

Grandmaster Surya Ganguly of Kolkata,India won the Sydney International Open at Parramatta Town Hall on a tiebreak with four Grandmasters each scoring 7/9 sharing $10,000.

Three months ago Ganguly,who became a GM in 2002,tied for first in the Commonwealth Championship but lost the tiebreak for the title. Sydney University student 21-year-old Yuan Zong Zhao who recently qualified for the grandmaster title and will be rated 2541 on the April World rating list beat NZ Grandmaster Murray Chandler in the final round to tie for first place and will gain another 20 rating points. Zhao is clearly Australia's top active player. Thirteen-year-old Dariusz Swiercz of Poland who will become an International Master in April defeated GM Dejan Antic in round 3.

Leading final scores (105 players,9 rounds) - GM S.Ganguly(IND 2579,rating performance 2667),GM Z.Zhang (SIN 2617,rp 2681),GM G.Jones(ENG 2562,rp 2578),IM Z.Zhao(AUS 2487,rp 2637) all 7   GM M.Gagunashvili(GEO 2553,rp 2587),GM R.Antonio (PHI 2529,rp 2497),GM V.Akobian(USA 2599,rp 2535),IM I.Bitansky(ISR 2424 rp 2459),GM V.Malakhatko(BEL 2600 rp 2522),S.Solomon(AUS 2468,rp 2396),GM D.Johansen (AUS 2475,rp 2439),IM G.Lane(AUS 2412 rp 2307) all 6.5. There were no GM or IM norms. Sherily Cua(PHI 2132) scored a WIM Norm.

D.Lovejoy(1994) won the 39 player supporting under 2000 rated event scoring 7.5/9 followed by A.Furst (1808) 7 and S.Jurd (1928) on 6.5.

Leading final scores in the O2C Doeberl Cup Easter Weekend tournament in Canberra (82 players,31 titled including 8 GM,11 IM,2 WGM,9 rounds) GM V.Akobian(USA 2599) 7.5,GM Z.Zhang(SIN 2617),GM S.Ganguly(IND 2579),GM G.Jones(ENG 2562),GM M.Gagunashvili(GEO 2553),GM D.Antic(SER 2480),IM S.Solomon(QLD 2468,Australian Champion),IM A.Kizov (MKD 2398) 6.5, IM P.Wang(NZL 2383),GM V.Malakhatko(BEL 2600),WGM R.Li(SIN 2425),IM I.Bitansky(ISR 2424),WGM A.Zozulia (BEL 2344),E.Ambrus (AUS 2378) all 6.  There were no GM norms (2600+  result)but one IM Norm (2450+ result) by WGM R.Li.

 Former NSW Champion Lloyd Fell now in his ninetieth year has competed in all 46 annual Doeberl Cup tournaments. The 49 player under 2000 rated event was won by Blair Mandla ( 1942) scoring 6/7 and the 67 player under 1600 rated event was won by Emma Guo 1598 with 7/7. The Sydney Easter Cup at Cabra Vale Diggers Club was won by Homer Cunanan(PHI 2133) on 6/7 half a point ahead of Johny Bolens(AUS 2201).The Canterbury Club Championships held over 7 Monday evenings starts tonight at Lakemba Services Memorial Club. The City of Sydney Rapid tournament will be held on Saturday 5 April at Parramatta RSL Club.

Final scores in the 14th Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament held in Nice,France(12 players including 11 of the top 14 in the world,22 rounds,prize fund AU $353,000) L.Aronian(ARM 2739) 14.5,V.Kramnik(RUS 2799),P.Leko(HUN 2753),V.Topalov(BUL 2780),M.Carlsen(NOR 2733) 12,V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751),V.Anand(World Champion,IND 2799),A.Morozevich(RUS 2765) all 11,S.Karjakin(UKR 2732) 9.5,B.Gelfand(ISR 2737),S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2760),L.Van Wely(NED 2681) 5.5. Aronian won the rapid section on 8/11 followed by Ivanchuk on 6.5 and  there was a four way tie for first between Aronian,Kramnik,Topalov and Morozevich on 6.5/11 in the blindfold division. 

Akobian Leads Doeberl Cup

Peter Parr (SMH 24/3/08)

Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian aged 24 is the sole leader in the 46th O2C Doeberl Cup Easter Weekend Tournament at the Hellenic Club,Canberra which this year attracted a record entry of 229 players-although 31 were in a reduced 2 day event this year (the previous record was 226 in 2006). Akobian moved from Armenia to Los Angeles in 2001 and became a Grandmaster one week after his 20th birthday in 2003. He won the World Open in the USA in 2007. Akobian drew with 15-year-old NSW Junior Champion Max Illingworth in round 1 after trying to win for almost 100 moves but he won his next 5 games defeating Smerdon,Johansen and Ganguly.

GM Darryl Johansen of Melbourne was the sole leader after 4 rounds with 4/4 defeating second seed GM Malakhatko after recovering from a lost position. Johansen lost his next two games against 3rd seed Akobian and top seed Zhang with the black pieces in the next two rounds. Australian Champion Stephen Solomon is the only Australian in the top 9 places after round 6. Draws by mutual agreement in under 30 moves are not allowed without permission of the arbiter. Some leading players agreed to draws without penalty and in  Rd 7 Akobian-Zhang was agreed drawn after only 14 moves with permission from the arbiter!

The top 12 rated players are in the top 12 places after 6 rounds with 3 rounds left to play. Leading scores after round 6 (82 players, 31 are titled including  8 GM,11 IM,2 WGM) GM V.Akobian (USA 2599) 5.5,GM Z.Zhang (SIN 2617),GM M.Gagunashvili (GEO 2553) 5,GM S.Ganguly (IND 2579),GM G.Jones (ENG 2562),GM D.Antic (SER 2480),GM V.Malakhatko (BEL 2600),IM S.Solomon (QLD 2468),WGM R.Li (SIN 2425) all 4.5,GM D.Johansen (VIC 2475),IM D.Smerdon (ACT 2459),IM I.Bitansky (ISR 2424) and 12 others are on 4 points. Leading Major U2000 scores after round 4 (49 players 7 rounds) - B.Mandla 1942  4,A.Huynh 1837,M.Dizdarevic 1930,R.Voon 1856 3.5 Leading Minor U1600 scores after round 4 (67 players,7 rounds) E.Guo 1598,J.Dalton 1446 4. The U1200 division(31 players,2 days)was won by Andrew Pan with 6/6. GM Akobian also won the Doeberl Cup lightning(68 players scoring 8/9 followed by IM D.Smerdon 7.5,J.Hu and GM G.Jones 7.

The Sydney International Open 25-29 March at Parramatta Town Hall has attracted 146 players from 23 countries. 100 are competing in the main event including 29 titled players (11 grandmasters). IM George Xie,FM D.Swiercz and E.Puzon jointly won the 22 player Canterbury Lightning with 8/9.

WGM Hou Yifan who turned fourteen three weeks ago won the Women Masters in Istanbul scoring five wins and four draws for an impressive 2674 rating performance. Leading final scores(10 players,9 rounds)  H.Yifan(CHN 2527) 7,GM P.Cramling (SWE 2524) 6,WGM Z.Xue(CHN 2517)5.5,IM E.Atalik (TUR 2408)5,IM L.Javakhishvili (GEO 2470) 4.5

Progress scores after 14 rounds in the 14th Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament in Nice,France (12 players including 11 of the top 14 in the world,22 rounds) L.Aronian(ARM 2739) 9,V.Anand(IND 2799) 8,M.Carlsen(NOR 2733),V.Kramnik(RUS 2799),P.Leko(HUN 2753) 7.5,V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751),A.Morozevich(RUS 2765),V.Topalov(BUL 2780) 7,S.Karjakin(UKR 2732)6.5,S.Mamedyarov(AZE 2760)6,B.Gelfand (ISR 2737),L.Van Wely(NED 2681)5.5. Aronian leads the rapid section on 5.5/7 and Morozevich leads the blindfold on 5/7.

Grandmasters Competing in Australia

Peter Parr (SMH 17/3/08)

The O2C Doeberl Cup Easter Weekend Tournament 20-24 March in Canberra will be the strongest and largest in the 46 year history of the event. The 16 Players rated above 2400 in the main tournament are GM Z.Zhang(SIN 2617),GM V.Malakhatko(BEL 2600),GM V.Akobian(USA 2599),GM S.Ganguly(IND 2579),GM G.Jones (ENG 2562),GM M.Gagunashvili(GEO 2553),GM A.Kunte(IND 2550),GM D.Antic(SER 2480),GM D.Johansen(AUS 2475),IM S.Solomon(QLD 2468),IM D.Smerdon(ACT 2459),WGM L.Ruofan(SIN 2425),IM I.Bitansky(ISR 2424),IM G.Lane(NSW 2412),IM A.Toth(HUN 2410),IM A.Reprintsev(UKR 2406). There are so far 208 entries with 89 in the title event and 119 in the supporting tournaments all being held at Hellenic Club,Canberra.

The Sydney International Open at Parramatta Town Hall 25-29 March has so far attracted 148 players from 20 countries(101 in the open,47 in the challengers). The 17 players rated higher than 2400 are the same as in the Doeberl Cup except Smerdon,Ruofan,Toth, but with the addition of GM M.Chandler(NZL 2540),GM R.Antonio (PHI 2529),IM Z.Zhao(NSW 2487),IM O.Barbosa (PHI 2410).

The above two 9 round International events will give Australian players the chance to earn Grandmaster norms(2600 performance)or International Master norms(2450 performance).

The annual Sydney Easter Cup will once again be held over two days 22 March and 24 March over 7 rounds at Cabra Vale Diggers Club,Cabramatta.

A 9 round lightning tournament will be held tonight at Lakemba Services Memorial Club. 13-year-old FIDE Master Dariusz Swiercz(POL 2315)has entered. He has recently scored his 3 IM norms(2450+ results)and will be rated 2413 on the April list and will become an IM when his results are confirmed by FIDE.

Leading final scores in the 96 player Ballarat(VIC) weekender IM L.Sandler 2282 and D.Stojic 2126  6/7. The Tasmanian Championship(29 players) in Launceston was won by  Dr Tony Dowden 2010(retaining his title) on 6/7 with top seed Neil Markovitz 2056 on 5.5 followed by Ian Rout 1846 on 5. Dr Kevin Bonham 1961 ACF Vice-President and third seed was undefeated with 2 wins and 5 draws.

IM Aleks Wohl (NSW 2418) had a bad finish in Bad Worishofen(Germany). Wohl recovered from an early loss to GM V.Borovikov (UKR 2583)to reach 5/7 but lost his last two games to finish two points behind the six grandmasters who shared first place.

IM Wang Puchen(NZL 2383)scored 5.5/13 (rating perf 2396) in the Budapest GM tournament. Final scores in the Reykjavik Open in Iceland(91 players from 32 countries,64 titled including 25 GM’s,9 rounds) - GM Wang Hao(CHN 2665),GM Wang Yue(CHN 2698) and GM H.Stefansson(ISL 2564) 7,GM F.Caruana(ITA 2598)and GM A.Kveinys(LTU 2521) 6.5.

Progress scores in the 14^th Amber Rapid and Blindfold (12 players including 11 of the top 14 in the world,22 rounds) in Nice,France.   V.Anand 2799,L.Aronian 2739,V.Ivanchuk 2751,S.Karjakin 2732,V.Topalov 2780 all 1.5/2,S.Mamedyarov 2760,A.Morozevich 2765 both 1, M.Carlsen 2733,B.Gelfand 2737,V.Kramnik 2799,P.Leko 2753,L.van Wely 2681 all 0.5/2

The top two rated players in the world met in round 1 and drew their blindfold game but World Champion Viswanathan Anand (India) defeated former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik(Russia) in the return rapidplay game.

ANAND WINS LINARES

Peter Parr (SMH 10/3/08)

 World Champion Viswanathan Anand has won the Morelia Mexico/Linares Spain Super Grandmaster tournament half a point ahead of 17-year-old Magnus Carlsen. Former World Champion Veselin Topalov,the second seed, lost both his games to Carlsen. The following game was played in round 12 when Topalov stood better for most of the game but Carlsen fought back to reach a drawn position when Topalov's 34th move put himself in a mating net.

M. Carlsen 2733 v V. Topalov 2780 A28  1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. a4 Be6 10. Be3 Nd7 11. d4 exd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 c6 14. a5 Nc5 15. Qe5 Nb3 16. Ra4 Bd6 17. Qh5 g6 18. Qh6 Be5 19. Bg5 Qc7 20. Be3 Nxa5 21. f4 Bg7 22. Qh4 Bb3 23. Rd4!? Rad8 24. e5 Rxd4 25. Bxd4 c5 26. Be3 f6 27. Nb5 Qd8 28. f5!(white spent a lot of time before playing this move)  fxe5 29. Bg5 Qb6 30. f6 c4+ 31. Kh1 Qxb5 32. fxg7 Rxf1+ 33. Bxf1 Kxg7 (safest) 34. Bd8 Nc6 ?? (34...Qd5 35 Bxa5 Qxa5 36 Qe7+  draws) 35. Qf6+ Kg8 36. Qe6+ Kf8 37. Bg5 1-0.

Anand scored 4.5/7 in the first half in Mexico and 4/7 in Spain. Shirov and Topalov had 4/7 but both lost the first game in Spain. Carlsen achieved 4.5/7 in the second half after a 50% score in the first half.

Final scores (8 players,14 rounds,av 2756) V.Anand(IND 2799) 8.5,M.Carlsen(NOR 2733) 8,V.Topalov(BUL 2780),L.Aronian(ARM 2739) 7.5, T.Radjabov (AZE 2735) 7,V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751) 6.5,P.Leko(HUN 2753) and A.Shirov(ESP 2755) 5.5. Leading performance ratings - Anand 2829,Carlsen 2808,Topalov 2781,Aronian 2787,Radjabov 2758. Carlsen and Anand in the Super GM events this year have each scored a combined 16/27 and Aronian 15.5.

Eleven of the top fourteen players in the world are competing in the 14th Amber Rapid and Blindfold tournament 14-28 March in Nice,France(12 players,22 rounds,prize fund AUS $ 353,000.  Leading scores after round 6 of the Reykjavik Open in Iceland (91 players from 32 countries,64 titled including 25 Grandmasters) - F.Caruana(ITA 2598,aged 15),Wang Hao(CHN 2665),H.Stefansson(ISL 2564)Wang Yue(CHN 2698) all 5 points. IM Wang Puchen(NZL 2383) has so far scored 2.5/6 (rating perf 2427) in the Budapest Grandmaster tournament.

The 42nd annual Ballarat(VIC) Begonia open is in progress with the top three seeds IM Leonid Sandler,IM Mirko Rujevic and FM Douglas Hamilton all winning their first two games in the 96 player Grand Prix event.

The O2C Doeberl Cup Easter weekend tournament 20-24 March,the 46th annual event, will be held at Hellenic Club,Canberra. 192 players have so far entered including 91(12 are grandmasters) in the main event. The Sydney International Open at Parramatta Town Hall 25-29 March has so far attracted 116 players from 21 countries (94 in the open,32 in the challengers) The main event has 53 players rated above 2100(19 over 2400). The field includes 32 titled players(12 GM,10 IM).

Progress scores in the World Rated Centenary Norths Club Championship after round 4 - FM Dr V.Smirnov (2318) 3.5,B.Atzmon-Simon (2142),A.Chek (2095)3, CM M.Illingworth (2152)2.5. There are 68 players competing in five divisions.

Wonderboy draws with World Champion

Peter Parr (SMH 3/3/08)

Norwegian Wonderboy 17-year-old Magnus Carlsen easily drew with the black pieces against World Champion Viswanathan Anand yesterday in the Morelia,Mexico/Linares,Spain Super Grandmaster Tournament. Rd 10 V.Anand(2799)-M.Carlsen(2733) B33 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Nd5 Be7 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 c3 Bg5 12 Nc2 Ne7 13 a4 bxa4 14 Ncb4 0-0 15 Qxa4 Nxd5 16 Nxd5 Bd7 17 Qa2 a5 18 Bd3 Bc6 19 0-0 Qb8 20 Bc4 Kh8 21 b3 f5 22 exf5 0.5 -0.5. Carlsen is only half a point behind Anand with four games to play. Carlsen and Levon Aronian jointly won the last Super Grandmaster tournament in January with World Champion Anand half a point behind. Carlsen is probably the strongest 17-year-old in history.

Anand won the following game in round 8. V.Anand(2799)-A.Shirov(2755) B33 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Nd5 Be7 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 c3 Bg5 12 Nc2 0-0 13 a4 bxa4 14 Rxa4 a5 15 Bc4 Rb8 16 b3 Kh8 17 Nce3 g6 18 Qe2(18 h4 was played in Karjakin-Shirov 2007) f5 19 h4 Bxe3 20 Qxe3 fxe4 21 h5 g5 22 Qxe4 Bb7 23 Qe3 e4 24 0-0 Ne5 25 Rfa1 Qe8 26 Rxa5 Qxh5 27 Qxe4 Rbe8 28 Be2! Qh4 29 Qxh4 gxh4 30 Ne3 h3 31 gxh3 Nf3+ 32 Bxf3 Rxf3 33 Rh5 Rg8+ 34 Kf1 Rgf8 35 Nd1! Rd3 36 Rh4 Bf3 37 Rd4 Rxd4 38 cxd4 Rf4 39 Ne3 Rxd4 40 Ra4 Rd3 41 Rf4 Bh5 42 b4 d5 43 Kg2 Bg6 44 Nf5 Kg8 45 Ne7+ Kg7 46 Nxg6 Kxg6 47 Rf3 Rd1 48 Rb3 d4 49 Kf3 d3 50 Ke3 Rh1 51 b5 Rxh3+ 52 f3 Rh1 53 b6 Re1+ 54 Kxd3 Re8 55 b7 Rb8 56 Ke4 h5 57 Kf4 1-0. World number 3 Veselin Topalov is on 50%.

Leading scores after round 10(8 players,av 2756,14 rounds) V.Anand(IND 2799)6.5,M.Carlsen(NOR 2733)6,L.Aronian(ARM 2739)5.5,V.Topalov(BUL 2780)5,T.Radjabov(AZE 2735),A.Shirov(ESP 2755),V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751) all 4.5,P.Leko(HUN 2753) 3.5

The Australian Chess Federation has rated 79 tournaments(51 classic,28 rapid) and 7625 games(4599 classic,3026 rapid) in the last three months. The biggest winners were Max Illingworth up 79 and Moulthun Ly up 40(now 11th in Australia),George Xie up 23 and Stephen Solomon up 15 all with good results in the Australian Championship in January. Leading players March 2008 - GM I.Rogers(NSW) 2605=,IM Z.Zhao(NSW) 2560=,IM D.Smerdon (ACT) 2471=,IM S.Solomon(QLD)2444 +15,IM G.Xie(NSW)2437 +23,GM D.Johansen(VIC)2411 -28, FM I.Bjelobrk(NSW)2395 -21,T.Tao(SA) 2375=,FM I.Goldenberg(VIC)2358 +2,IM P.Froehlich(QLD) 2352 =. Juniors U20 & U18  M.Ly(QLD) 2345, U16 CM M.Illingworth(NSW) 2303, U14 FM J.Morris(VIC) 2027, U12 L.Matheson(VIC) 1699,  U10 A.Sannidhanam(VIC)1520. Seniors over 60  IM M.Rujevic (VIC) 2232,FM D.Hamilton(VIC) 2182; over 70 FM A.Flatow (NSW) 2172; over 80 P.Viner(NSW) 1912. Women WIM A.Caoili(QLD) 2157,G.Nguyen(SA) 2102,WIM L.Moylan(NSW)2017,A.Musaeva(NSW)1915,WFM S.Oliver(ACT)1812,girls U20 WFM R.Harris(NSW) 1743,WIM A.Jule(QLD) 1742.

The 42nd annual Begonia Open Tournament in Ballarat,Victoria over 7 rounds from 8-10 March 2008 is an ACF Grand Prix event and will be rated by the World Chess Federation.

IM George Xie and Jason Hu tied for first place with 6/7 in the 38 player Rooty Hill Rapid tournament on Saturday. A nine round 15 minute allegro will start tonight and finish next Monday evening at Lakemba Services Memorial Club.

Anand First in Mexico

Peter Parr (SMH 25/2/08)

World Champion Viswanathan Anand has won the first half of the Linares Super Grandmaster tournament in Morelia,Mexico. Anand (p.r. 2851)scored 3 wins,3 draws and 1 loss(to Aronian) leaving him half a point ahead of ex-World Champion Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov.

V.Topalov 2780 v L.Aronian 2739 E20 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Ne4 7. Qd3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Nc5 9. Qf3 d6 10. Bg2 e5 11. Qe3(N) O-O 12. Nb3 Qc7 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. O-O Nd7 15. f4 exf4? 16. Rxf4 a5? 17. Qe7 Qe5 18. Qxe5 Nxe5 19. Be3 Nd7 20. Re4 Ra6 21. Rb1 Rg6 22. Re7 b6 23. Bf4 h5 24. Be4 Re6 25. Rxe6 fxe6 26. Bd6 Rf6 27. Rd1 Kf7 28. Bf4 Kg8 29. Bc7 Rf7? 30. Bg6 a4 31. Bxh5 Nf6 32. Bxf7+ Kxf7 33. Bxb6 Ba6 34. Bxc5 e5 35. a3 Bxc4 36. Bb4 e4 37. Kf1 1-0

P.Leko 2753 v V.Anand 2799 B90 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. f3 b5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. Nd5 Bxd5 12. exd5 Nb6 13. Bxb6 Qxb6 14. Na5 Rc8 15. Nc6 Nxd5 16. Nxe7 Nxe7 17. Qxd6 Qxd6 18. Rxd6 Nc6 19. c3(N) Ke7 20. Rd1 f5 21. Bd3 g6 22. Rhe1 Rhd8 23. Bf1 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Na5 25. a4 Nc4 26. axb5 axb5 27. Rd5 Kf6 28. Rxb5 Ne3 29. Rb6+ Kg5 30. Ba6 Rd8 31. b4 Kf4 32. Rc6? Nxg2 33. b5 Ra8 34. Bb7 Rb8 35. Rc7 Ne1 36. Rxh7 Nxf3 37. c4 e4 38. Kc2 e3 39. Kd3 g5 40. Ke2 Nd4+ 41. Ke1 Rd8 42. Re7 Nc2+ 43. Kf1 Rd1+ 44. Ke2 Rd2+ 45.Kf1 Nd4 0-1

Progress scores after round 7 (8 players, av 2756,14 rounds) V.Anand(IND 2799) 4.5,V.Topalov(BUL 2780),A.Shirov(ESP 2755) 4,M.Carlsen(NOR 2733),L.Aronian(ARM 2739) 3.5,T.Radjabov (AZE 2735),V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751) 3,P.Leko(HUN 2753) 2.5. The players will now travel from Morelia Mexico to Linares Spain for the second half of the tournament starting on Thursday evening.   

17-year-old GM Ian Nepomniachtchi(RUS 2600)won the Aeroflot Open(66 players) in Moscow (first prize AUS $33,000) scoring 5 wins and 4 draws against 9 GM's for an impressive 2822 performance rating. Alexander Motylev(RUS 2644)and Alexey Dreev(RUS 2633)were equal second on 6.5/9. 18-year-old GM Maxim Rodshtein(ISR 2614)started with 4.5/5 and finished on 6 points(p.r. 2717).The brilliant young 13-year-old WGM Hou Yifan(China 2527) played 9 grandmasters all rated 2583 or higher scoring 4.5/9 which was her first GM norm(p.r.over 2600).

The 92 player main supporting event for players rated between 2400 and 2549 was won by 20-year-old GM Marat Askarov(RUS 2521) and 21-year-old Weiqi Zhou(CHN 2530)who each performed above 2700 with 7/9. 17-year-old Yunguo Wan(CHN 2389)had a 2652 result scoring 6.5 points. 135 competed in the 2200-2399 division and 139 in the under 2200 section.

Meanwhile in France at Capelle La Grande 8 players tied for first place on 7/9(612 players from 63 countries including 106 grandmasters and 80 International Masters).The winner on tie-break was world no 49 GM Vugar Gashimov(2665) aged 21 from Baku,Azerbaijan(same city as Kasparov).

The 3 top seeds  tied for first place in the Newcastle Open Grand Prix Weekend tournament. FIDE Master Vladimir Smirnov defeated Johny Bolens but lost to Ronald Scott. Bolens beat the leader Scott in round 6. Leading final scores (24 players, 7 rounds) FM V.Smirnov (2286), R.Scott (2239) and J.Bolens (2072) all 6: B.O'Riordan (1845) and L.Russell (ACT 1316) 4.5 A seven round rapid tournament will be held at Rooty Hill RSL Club next Saturday 1st March.

Aronian beats World Champion

Peter Parr (SMH 18/2/08)

Levon Aronian,joint winner at Wijk aan Zee last month,defeated World Champion Viswanathan Anand with a decisive attack in the following game yesterday in the second round of the Morelia Mexico/Linares Spain Super Grandmaster tournament.

V.Anand (IND 2799)-L.Aronian (ARM 2739)Rd 2. C89 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 c3 d5 9 exd5 Nxd5 10 Nxe5 Nxe5 11 Rxe5 c6 12 Re1 Bd6 13 g3 Re8(The Ruy Lopez-Marshall Attack) 14 d4 Rxe1+ 15 Qxe1 Ra7 16 Be3 Re7 17 Nd2 Qe8 18 Nf1 h5 19 a4 Be6 20 Bd1 h4 21 axb5 axb5 22 Bf3 Bh3 23 Bxd5 cxd5 24 Qd1 f5 25 Bg5 Re4 26 Bxh4 Qg6 27 Bd8 f4 28 Qd3 Qh5 29 Nd2 Re2 30 Nf3? Re3!! 31 fxe3 Qxf3 32 Qc2 fxg3 33 hxg3 Qxg3+ 34 Kh1 Bf5 0-1.

Anand beat Alexei Shirov in fine style in the first round. A.Shirov(ESP 2755)-V.Anand(IND 2799) Rd 1 B96 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Nbd7 8 Qf3 Qc7 9 0-0-0 b5 10 Bd3 Bb7 11 Rhe1 Qb6 12 Nb3 Rc8(N) 13 Qh3 Rxc3! 14 bxc3 Qc7 15 Kb1 Be7 16 e5 dxe5 17 f5 Nd5 18 Bxe7 Kxe7 19 fxe6 fxe6 20 Qg3 g6 21 Rd2 Rc8 22 Qg5+?(Qh4+ was better-Anand) Ke8 23 Qg4 Nxc3+ 24 Ka1 Bd5 25 Re3 Nf6 26 Qh4 Qe7 27 Bf1? Bxb3! 28 cxb3 Nce4 29 Rb2 Rc1+ 30 Rb1 Qc5 0-1. Former World Champion Veselin Topalov easily beat Aronian in the first round with excellent opening preparation. Aronian tried to improve his position but only had 13 minutes left for his last 21 moves and Topalov won. Peter Leko won a tactical battle against Teimour Radjabov and Magnus Carlsen drew with Vassily Ivanchuk in other first round games. Round 2 Shirov 0.5-Carlsen 0.5,Radjabov 0.5 -Topalov 0.5,Ivanchuk 1-Leko 0

Progress scores after round 2 (8 players,av 2756,14 rounds) V.Topalov(BUL 2780) and V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751) 1.5; V.Anand(IND 2799),L.Aronian(ARM 2739),M.Carlsen(NOR 2733),P.Leko(HUN 2753) all 1,T.Radjabov(AZE 2735),A.Shirov(ESP 2755) 0.5

GM Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS 2681) was the sole leader in the Moscow Open half a point ahead of Artyom Timofeev (RUS 2664) and Alexander Lastin (RUS 2604) with one round to play. Inarkiev recovered from a loss in round 1 winning his next seven consecutive games.Timofeev had the advantage in the ninth round but Inarkiev missed a forced draw on move 78 and lost in 117 moves with king and bishop versus king and rook.23-year-old Timofeev won the event (304 players including 96 GM's and 75 IM's) scoring 7.5/9 just half a point ahead of 9 grandmasters on 7 points. 17-year-old IM Anna Muzychuk (SLO 2460) won the 136 player Moscow Open Women's Championship with 8/9 half a point ahead of IM Anna Ushenina (UKR 2484) on 7.5. A record number of 1250 players from 37 countries participated in the 4 tournaments. 17-year-old Grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi(RUS 2600)has taken the sole lead (3/3 against GM's rated 2532,2531 and 2633)in the 66 player A1 section(minimum rating 2550)of the Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

International Master Igor Bitansky  and Vladimir Smirnov outclassed the field (8 players over 1550) in the Toukley Open Grand prix weekend tournament agreeing to a quick draw with each other and winning the other 6 games. Third seed Johny Bolens lost to Graeme Deacon (1361) and to the joint winners to finish on 4 points. Leading final scores (28 players, 7 rounds):- I.Bitansky (Israel 2424) and V.Smirnov (2286) 6.5: B.Mandla (1883) 5;P.Abbott (1805), N.Greenwood (1521), A.Mehan (1516) 4.5.

Inarkiev ahead in Moscow

Peter Parr (SMH 11/2/08)

Russian Grandmaster 22-year-old Ernesto Inarkiev rated 2681 has taken the sole lead with one round to play in the 304 player main event of the Moscow Open tournament. Inarkiev seeded third lost to FIDE Master Andrey Okara (RUS 2402 seeded 158)in round 1 but worked his way through the field, which includes 96 grandmasters and 75 international masters from 27 countries,by winning his next 7 consecutive games. 23-year-old GM Artyom Timofeev 2664 seeded 5th and 31-year-old GM Alexander Lastin (2002 Russian Champion)2604 seeded 35th are in joint second place half a point behind Inarkiev.

17-year-old IM Anna Muzychuk(SLO 2460)leads the 136 player womens event with 7.5/8. Muzychuk has won numerous tournaments in the last 12 years starting with the European Girls Under 8 title in 1996.  An additional 404 players are competing in the B Group and 403 in the childrens division.The total prize fund in Moscow is five million roubles (AUS $ 225,000). Here are three games from the main event.

E.Krivoborodov (RUS 2394)v B.Jobava (GEO 2643) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Ne2 e5 8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Bf4 Bd6 10. Bxe5 Bxe5 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Bh2+ 13. Kh1 Bd6 14. Nd4 a6 15. Re1 Bd7 16. Qf3 Rae8 17. Nf5 Be5 18. Nb3 g6 19. Nfd4 Qb6 20. Re2 Bb8 21. Rxe8 Rxe8 22. Bf1 h5 23. Nc5 Bxh3 24. Na4 Qd6 25. Qxh3 Ne4 26. Kg1 Qf4 27. Nf3 Ba7 0-1

A.Riazantsev (RUS 2628) v V.Yandemirov (RUS 2461) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. O-O Na5 10. Bd3 b6 11. Be3 Qd7 12. Rc1 Bb7 13. Qd2 Rfe8 14. Bh6 Bh8 15. e5 c5 16. Qg5 cxd4 17. cxd4 e6 18. h4 Nc6 19. Rfd1 Ne7 20. h5 Rac8 21. Rxc8 Bxc8 22. Nf4 Qxd4 23. Bc2 Qc5 24. hxg6 Qxc2 25. Rd8 Rxd8 26. g7 Rd1+ 27. Kh2 Nf5 28. gxh8=Q+ Kxh8 29. Nh5 f6 30. Qxf6+ Kg8 31. Qf8# 1-0

I.Naumkin (RUS 2475) M.Kobalia(RUS 2623) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 a6 6. a3 Nbd7 7. h3 Bd6 8. c5 Bc7 9. b4 e5 10. Bb2 O-O 11. Be2 Re8 12. Qc2 exd4 13. Nxd4 Nf8 14. O-O-O Qe7 15. g4 g6 16. g5 N6d7 17. h4 Be5 18. h5 Bg7 19. hxg6 hxg6 20. Kb1 a5 21. b5 Qxc5 22. Rh4 Ne5 23. Rdh1 cxb5 24. Bxb5 Bd7 25. f4 Nc4 26. Nxd5 Nxa3+ 27. Bxa3 Qxd5 28. Bb2 Rxe3 29. Nf3 Bxb2 30. Qxb2 Qf5+ 31. Ka1 f6 32. Bc4+ Kg7 33. Rh8 1-0. Most of the 1000 players will stay in Moscow for the Aeroflot Open 14-22 Feb.

The 25th annual Linares-Morelia Super Grandmaster tournament starts on Friday in Morelia,Mexico with 8 of the top 13 rated players competing in a double round robin - World Champion V.Anand(IND 2799),ex World Champion V.Topalov(BUL 2780),A.Shirov(ESP 2755),P.Leko(HUN 2753),V.Ivanchuk(UKR 2751),L.Aronian(ARM 2739),T.Radjabov(AZE 2735) and M.Carlsen(NOR 2733).

The Newcastle Open Grand Prix weekend tournament will be held at Cardiff Panthers 16-17 Feb over seven rounds. Former World Girls Champion Katrin Wills was elected President of Chess Victoria,and International Master Leonid Sandler Vice-President  at the AGM in Melbourne last week.