India's first chess features print magazine published quarterly from Lucknow since 2004 by Aspire Welfare Society.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Candidates R5: Fireworks, but 4 Draws


The standings didn't change after Wednesday's fifth round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament in London as all games ended in draws. Facing his own favourite Grünfeld, Peter Svidler (Russia) got a winning position against Boris Gelfand (Israel) but after wild complications the game ended in a draw. Magnus Carlsen (Norway) also played the Grünfeld and for the first time he was under pressure, against Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), but eventually he held a knight ending a pawn down. Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) got his chances in a Réti against Levon Aronian (Armenia), who held an opposite-coloured bishop ending two pawns down. The last game to finish was Alexander Grischuk (Russia) versus Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan). In a 5.Bf4 Queen's Gambit Declined White also got very close to a win but with a bishop sacrifice the Azerbaijani held his own.

The fifth round of the Candidates tournament had a comical start. In two games the Grünfeld Defence came on the board: Peter Svidler versus Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk versus Magnus Carlsen. And quite remarkably, after the move 3…d5, which defines this opening, both Svidler and Ivanchuk started to think! It seemed that the Ukrainian was waiting for Svidler to move, while Svidler needed to think of a good way to play against his own favourite defence…

Well, in fact the grandmaster from St. Petersburg had found an interesting idea (7.f4) together with his seconds Nikita Vitiugov and Maxim Matlakov shortly before the game. “It looks incredibly ugly and that was one of the main reasons for playing it because I thought Boris might decide he has to play for an advantage now,” said Svidler. Gelfand didn't react well, on the contrary. Afterwards the Israeli said that he hadn’t played the opening so badly in his entire career. “This move 8…Bg4 is a disaster and 10…c6 may be even worse.”

However, after reaching an overwhelming position ("In a tournament like this I'm very unlikely to get such a position again"), Svidler wanted to force matters and “started sacrificing pawns left and right”, as Grischuk put it. Gelfand reacted very well and even got the upper hand, but after some more complications he decided to offer a draw just before the time control. He explained it as follows: “Draw offers are a psychological game. If White would decline then the pressure would be on his side and maybe he would take too much risk. People underestimate this; they are crazy about the number of moves and statistics but here it’s real psychology!”

Also in that other Grünfeld game it was White who got a clear advantage. Ivanchuk played strongly and created problems for his opponent, which meant that for the first time in this tournament, top seed Magnus Carlsen was under serious pressure. “It was a very difficult game. I tried to be creative in the opening. He responded well and I was worse, so I decided to sacrifice a pawn in order to get into an endgame which I thought I could hold,” said Carlsen.

For a moment the Norwegian even played for a win; at move 31 Ivanchuk, who was again short of time, offered a draw. Carlsen declined: “At some point I even got optimistic which was completely unfounded and I had to fight to save the game. I just underestimated his possibilities. It was an unprofessional and bad decision to play on.”

Also in the game between the world’s number two and three, Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian, White got excellent winning chances. Aronian’s problems started after his risky pawn push 13…b5. “This was probably asking for too much.”

Kramnik then found the strong idea of pushing his f-pawn and sacrificing his a-pawn along the way. He managed to break open the centre, but then missed a strong continuation which was pointed out by computer engines. Nonetheless, after the time control the Russian reached a very promising ending. “I don’t know what the computer says but I have a feeling I missed a win,” said Kramnik, and Aronian agreed with him. During their press conference the two top grandmaster showed numerous amazing variations to the (online) spectators, and after about half an hour they still didn’t find a win for White, despite being two pawns up in an opposite-coloured bishop ending.

Most of this press conference was in fact watched by Alexander Grischuk and Teimour Radjabov in the press room as well. Their game finished shortly after that of Kramnik and Aronian. It was the same story here: Grischuk got close to a win, but failed to convert the full point. In the 5.Bf4 variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, the Muscovite was very much in control: “I think I got a completely winning position but I should not have let Black sacrifice on c5. I underestimated that."

With his 34th move Radjabov managed to change the nature of the position completely and at the same time he got his opponent rather confused. “I thought I was checkmating but 36…h5 was cold a shower," said Grischuk. Eventually a complicated ending was reached where Radjabov had three passed pawns against a knight for Grischuk, but there the Russian decided to force the draw by liquidating to an equal rook ending.

And so after five rounds the standings are the same with half a point more for each player. Aronian and Carlsen are tied for first place with 3.5 points while Svidler is the only player with 3. Kramnik and Radjabov have 2.5 points, Grischuk has 2 points and Gelfand and Ivanchuk are in last place, with 1.5 points. Thursday, March 21st at 14:00 GMT the sixth round will be played: Svidler-Carlsen, Kramnik-Ivanchuk, Grischuk-Gelfand and Radjabov-Aronian.
Statistics: From the start of the tournament till round 5 over 200,000 unique visitors from 185 countries came to the official site. 

Report by Peter Doggers/
Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Chessdom Shop Only: Kasparov Notes

Garry’s Choice is the exclusive world famous column by Garry Kasparov. The 13th World champion dissects top games of modern chess/ in English, 25 pages in total, for Chess Informants. You can now get the 113, 114, and 115 columns by Garry Kasparov in downloadable Candidates pack. One zip file contains: - high resolution printable PDF files/ 25 pages in English / same content as in Chess Informant books - PGN files with annotations by Garry Kasparov/ including reference games/ readable by ChessBase, ChessAssistant or any PGN reader. This is the offer only for ChessDom.com readers, the bundle is not available anywhere else. Price for Chessdom readers is 12.50 EUR.

Garry Kasparov, the Thirteenth World Champion, tremendously influenced the development of chess with his games, analyses, and writings. The quality of this work has greatly enriched our chess culture, and Chess Informant has had the privilege of presenting the fruits of his deep analytical work for more than thirty years. Seven years after his retirement from professional chess, we are deeply honored to welcome Garry back to Chess Informant! In the new column, “Garry’s Choice,” he is annotating select games from recent practice, casting his critical eye on the efforts of modern chess stars – and mere “mortals” – in his trademark style. Order Garry’s Choice 115, 114, 113 Candidates pack here

Disturbing Guy Vs. Chess Queen: Video


There are all types of chess opponents. What to do when your opponent tries to distract you? Are you really allowed to disturb your opponent in a chess match? But, do what Chess Queen Alexandra Kosteniuk does in the video: Stay focused and win! This video is from the Official YouTube Channel of the 12th Women's World Chess Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk. Alexandra is the 10th woman in the history of chess to have reached the title of Grandmaster (Men). GM Kosteniuk plays a 3-minute chess blitz with International Master Yge Visser at the 2005 ChessDarts World Championship in Amsterdam. This was the first game of the mini-match, which Alexandra won 2-0 despite Visser's "antics". The Chessdarts title was won by Alexandra Kosteniuk and her partner Darts Champion Andy Fordham. The game is without increment of time and the last minute of this game was very exciting for the spectators. (Photo: The World Champions 2005 Chessdarts Alexandra Kosteniuk and Andy Fordham)




Fischer Chess Memorial Exhibition

A memorial exhibit has been unveiled at a Reykjavik hotel commemorating ‘The match of all time’. The launch of the artefact comes four decades after legendary American chess champion Bobby Fisher took on Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union in the Icelandic capital in 1972. During the event, the two players stayed at the Hotel Loftleiðir, which has since become the Icelandair Reykjavik Hotel Nátura and is now the site of the exhibit.

Visitors can check out the exhibition by heading to the ground floor of the Reykjavik hotel property, where they can view a number of items including a chessboard that had been designed specifically for the epic match, which has since been called a foreshadow of the Cold War. Also on display are a number of photographs and artefacts commemorating the lives of the two players after the event. The legendary game saw Bobby Fisher become the first ever American to be crowned as an international chess champion and ended the Soviet Union’s winning streak that spanned nearly two-and-a-half decades. (Hotel website/Reykjavik)

Candidates R4: Aronian, Carlsen Lead


In Tuesday’s fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament in London Magnus Carlsen of Norway caught Levon Aronian of Armenia in first place. Carlsen beat Alexander Grischuk of Russia in a Ruy Lopez Berlin, while Aronian was held to a draw by Peter Svidler of Russia in a Queen’s Gambit Accepted. The two oldest participants, Boris Gelfand of Israel and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, drew a very interesting game that started with the rare Chigorin Defence. Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Vladimir Kramnik of Russia drew a Nimzo-Indian that was always more or less balanced. 

After enjoying their first rest day, on Tuesday the eight top grandmasters returned to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) at Savoy Place for the fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament. It was also the first day that, in the commentary room, host IM Lawrence Trent was joined by former World Championship contender GM Nigel Short. Throughout the tournament, online spectators can follow the games while watching and listening to live commentary simultaneously. In the playing hall, the audience enjoys a similar experience thanks to Samsung tablets which are waiting for them on their seats at arrival.


The first game to finish was a relatively short draw: tournament leader Levon Aronian split the point with Peter Svidler after 31 moves. In this game, Svidler showed once again that he has come to London very well prepared. The grandmaster from St. Petersburg successfully employed a rare line of the Queen's Gambit Accepted in which Black actually hangs on to his c-pawn with an early ...a6 and ...b5. 


“During the game I was trying to remember what my intention was, but I failed," said Aronian. According to Svidler, his opponent didn't play the most dangerous plan: "This is actually not such a straightforward line but with some precision Black tends to equalise if White goes for the pawn grab. I suppose the critical lines are somewhere where White ignores the pawn for a while."

Svidler's 10...Rb8 instead of 10...Ra7 is a new idea (played only once before) that involves a long-term pawn sacrifice. It worked well, and Svidler equalised quite comfortably. "It's nice to have half a rest today. Somewhat nicer for me than it is for Levon I'm sure but for me it's fairly nice," said Svidler.

A bit more than 3.5 hours into the round, Magnus Carlsen won his second game of the tournament to catch Aronian in first place. In the popular Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez, his opponent Alexander Grischuk started spending a lot of time early on. An important moment was 17…f5, a move disliked by Carlsen. “I missed a lot of things with this move. I completely overestimated my position. I still think Black is fine but [during the game] I thought Black was better,” said Grischuk. One of Black's problems was his bad bishop on f8 – the reason why his position looked better than it was.



To make matters worse, Grischuk’s disadvantage on the clock started to grow. After making his 21st move, Grischuk had only 4 minutes and 24 seconds left on the clock for his next 19 moves. It was just impossible to reach the time control without making mistakes, and Carlsen profited from these mistakes by not paying attention to his opponent’s time trouble too much. As he said after the game, he was “just trying to play well”. And he was never really worried: “Obviously there are threats but I felt that I always had enough resources to parry them. You can never be absolutely sure but I thought that I had enough play on the queenside to counter whatever threats he could muster.”

Only two players are older than forty in this tournament: Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk. Both 44, these chess legends must have played over a hundred games against each other. Gelfand referred to this when he expressed the following nice words about his opponent: “Each game is very interesting and always a big lesson for me. Probably it’s one of the reasons for our chess longevity: when you play such a great player so many times, it gives you so much experience and knowledge – it helps a lot!”

As so often, Ivanchuk played a rare opening set-up. With Black he went for the Chigorin Defence (1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6) and it took Gelfand a few minutes to decide on which line to play. In a position that looked a bit better for White, on move 22 a very nice piece sacrifice was found (and played instantly!) by Ivanchuk. After some wild complications White ended up with an extra bishop on h2 that was completely out of play, and there Black could force a perpetual check.

The last game to finish, between Teimour Radjabov and Vladimir Kramnik, was a Nimzo-Indian game that always looked fairly equal. “I think I got a very nice position out of the opening and it’s also very easy to play. I had this very simple plan of trying to attack these hanging pawns but of course White is also very solid. It might be equal and maybe it’s a matter of style, but I would take Black in this position, it’s easier to play somehow,” said Kramnik. The Russian was happy with his manoeuvres, and thought he was pressing. “But Teimour seemed to defend very well.”

Radjabov agreed that he got “nothing out of the opening". “I probably mixed up some things in the opening, how I got this position without the two bishops. It’s kind of a dream position for Black.” But the Azerbaijani managed to avoid serious mistakes, and so Black’s advantage was never more than symbolical.

After four rounds Aronian and Carlsen are tied for first place with 3 points while Svidler is the only player with 2.5. Kramnik and Radjabov are on 50% with 2 points, Grischuk has 1.5 points and Gelfand and Ivanchuk are still in last place, with 1 point. Wednesday, March 20th at 14:00 GMT (India time 7.30 pm) the fourth round will be played: Ivanchuk-Carlsen, Svidler-Gelfand, Kramnik-Aronian and Grischuk-Radjabov.


The FIDE Candidates' Tournament is taking place March 14th-April 1st, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Games and information can be found at http://london2013.fide.com.
Report by Peter Doggers

Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

BBC Chess Video with Carlsen, Paulson

BBC presenter Ros Atkins takes on World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the studio and has a brief chat with London Fide Chess Candidates' organiser Andrew Paulson. The strongest tournament of its kind - the 2013 Candidates Tournament - is being held from March 14 to April 1, 2013, at the IET, Savoy Place, London. FIDE and AGON – the World Chess Federation’s commercial partner – are staging the event. The Prize Fund to be shared by the players totals €510,000. The winner of the Candidates will become the Challenger to Viswanathan Anand who has reigned as World Champion since 2007. The main sponsor of the Candidates Chess is State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic SOCAR. 

Film on Blind Chess: YOU can Help

Visually-Challenged Chess Players: Help Showcase Special Documentary to World Audience: Ian McDonald is a sports sociologist and documentary filmmaker. He has given a very special gift to Indian chess: his documentary 'Algorithms' on blind chess players!

ALGORITHMSIndia | 2012 | HDV | B&W | 109 mins
English, Hindi, Tamil, Odiya with English subtitles


In India, a group of boys dream of becoming Chess Masters, driven by a man with a vision. But this is no ordinary chess and these are no ordinary players. Algorithms is a documentary on the thriving but little known world of Blind Chess in India.

Filmed over three years, Algorithms travels with three talented boys and a totally blind player turned pioneer to competitive national and world championships and visits them in their home milieu where they reveal their struggles, anxieties and hopes.

Going beyond sight and story, this observational sport docu with a difference moves through the algorithms of the blind chess world challenging the sighted of what it means to see. It allows for the tactile and thoughtful journey that explores foresight, sight and vision to continue long after the moving image ends.

The documentary was praised in India and surely, it deserves a bigger international platform. The director and his team are now looking to secure an international premiere at a top film festival outside India. It had its World Premiere at the International Film Festival of India in Nov 2012. It was also a Film Bazaar Recommended (FBR) film at the industry event parallel to IFFI and screeners have been taken by visiting festivals. 





For this, the film needs to be regraded. The original picture grading was not done to a big screen projector. But this is expensive. Also, the teams wants to take the desired high quality outputs (HD CAM, DCP etc), which again are very expensive. McDonald's team has little time to raise funds. They have now decided to go down the crowd-funding route with a Kickstarter campaign. The target is £10,000 in 45 days. If they fail to reach the target they get nothing!

Would you like to support this very special chess documentary? Here is the Kickstarter Campaign link for 'Algorithms'. 


Crowd funding a project through Kickstarter is slowly becoming the most viable way for documentary filmmakers and now one-third of films that come to festivals are funded this way. In fact, the Oscar award for short documentary went to a Kickstarter film this year!

‘Developing Chess Talent’ ebook

Here's a special chess book in electronic format as well. ‘Developing Chess Talent’, comprising 256 pages, discusses creating a chess culture, coaching, training, organization and communication. Also included in this title are interviews with grandmasters David Bronstein and Jan Timman, as well as plenty of helpful and practical information. Authors of the book are Dutch psychologists and chess trainers Karel van Delft and IM Merijn van Delft. The book includes a foreword by GM Artur Yusupov with whom they have been collaborating for many years.

The ebook is available in pdf format. It can be accessed by e-reader, PC, tablet and smartphone. Cost of the ebook is 6 euro. It can be ordered via PayPal or bank transfer. The book is recommended for chess trainers by the FIDE Trainers Commission.

For more information and a downloadable preview, visit the website www.chesstalent.com. Also available at the website is a video of IM Merijn van Delft presenting the book in the Max Euwe Centrum in Amsterdam. 



Other free items available at the website include 32 training videos of IM Mark Dvoretsky and GM Artur Yusupov as well as articles about chess and nutrition, chess in primary schools, and the Chess Karate Kid sheets.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Candidates R3: Aronian in Sole Lead


Levon Aronian is the sole leader at the FIDE World Chess Candidates 2013’ Tournament after three rounds of play. On Sunday the Armenian grandmaster beat Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, who overstepped the time limit for the second day in a row. In what was a very exciting round, co-leader Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan lost to Russia’s Peter Svidler in a Sämisch King’s Indian. Magnus Carlsen of Norway beat Boris Gelfand of Israel with Black in 57 moves from the old Cambridge Springs variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Russian grandmasters Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Grischuk drew a Grünfeld game in 35 moves. 
Two and a half hours into the third round of the FIDE World Chess Candidates’ Tournament a remarkable situation occurred: in all four games, between the two contestants there was a time difference of about an hour on the clock. Thanks to their preparation Peter Svider, Vladimir Kramnik, Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian enjoyed a big time advantage against Teimour Radjabov, Alexander Grischuk, Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk respectively.

In the case of Grischuk, however, this was nothing special. The 29-year-old Muscovite is the reigning World Blitz Champion and known for getting into time trouble quite often in his classical games. At the press conference his opponent noted that things could have been even worse. Kramnik: “At some point when Sacha was thinking, I was trying to compete with Peter Svidler, I mean, who would have more advantage on time!”

Their game started with the Fianchetto Variation of the Grünfeld. Because many moves were quite logical, Kramnik’s preparation went as deep as move 21, when he felt he had a slight advantage. At some point Grischuk had to give up a pawn, but his piece activity offered enough compensation. “Sacha played very correctly. I am not sure if I had any improvement on what I played,” said Kramnik afterwards.

Poor Vassily Ivanchuk lost on time for the second day in a row. The Ukrainian is known for his wide opening repertoire, and today he tried his luck with an opening that’s popular at club level: the Torre Attack (via a Trompovsky move-order). Levon Aronian responded well to his opponent’s aggression, and his wonderful 19th move gave him a big advantage. While his opponent’s clock was ticking away Aronian actually didn’t play that convincingly, but he won anyway.

“Today I just tried to play some creative game but probably for practical reasons it was a bad strategy. 31.c4 was a nice move but there I realised that even if he would start to give me material with every move I would still lose on time,” said Ivanchuk, who will in fact turn 44 tomorrow. Asked how he will spend his rest day, the Ukrainian replied: “I will try to completely not think about chess!”

Like Ivanchuk, Teimour Radjabov got in huge time trouble with only a few seconds left to make his last three moves before the first time control. The Azerbaijani did manage to reach move 40, but he failed to save the game. Just after the opening, his favourite King’s Indian, he needed to think a lot. Radjabov: “I was not so much surprised, but in general I forgot the lines I had seen there. I just mixed everything up.”

Svidler arrived in the press room both relieved and happy about how his opening went. He played the 5.f3 (Sämisch) variation and got exactly what he had prepared. “It’s very nice to get a position like this with also an hour and a big advantage on the clock. The game was mainly decided in the opening because I got such a huge advantage. The combination of the position I got and also the clock pressure that was on Teimour here, that together made his situation quite difficult.”

The chess fans were spoilt with yet another win at the end of the day. After two quick and uneventful draws, top seed Magnus Carlsen managed to beat Boris Gelfand with Black. In this game it was the Israeli who spent lots of time. “It’s a rare line, a very original position. The pawn structure isn't determined yet. I had to think about the best way to configure it,” said Gelfand.

With his last move before the time control (40.h5) he gave his opponent unnecessary practical chances, and when the queens were traded Carlsen’s two passed pawns on the queenside decided the game. “I’m very happy to win and now that Levon won his second game… it’s still early in the tournament but it’s good to keep pace,” said Carlsen.

After three rounds Aronian is the sole leader with 2.5 out of 3 while Carlsen and Svidler are in shared second place with 2 points. Kramnik, Grischuk and Radjabov have 1.5/3 while Gelfand and Ivanchuk are in last place with 0.5/3.

Monday, March 18th is the first rest day. Tuesday, March 19th at 14:00 GMT the fourth round will be played: Carlsen-Grischuk, Radjabov-Kramnik, Aronian-Svidler and Gelfand-Ivanchuk.

The FIDE Candidates' Tournament is taking place March 14th-April 1st, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). Games and information can be found at http://london2013.fide.com.

Report by Peter Doggers
Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Candidates R2: Aronian, Radjabov Win

Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjabov went into shared first place in the second round at the FIDE World Chess Candidates' Tournament in London on Saturday. Aronian won against Boris Gelfand, who blundered material. Radjabov outplayed Vassily Ivanchuk, who eventually lost on time in what should be a lost position any way. Magnus Carlsen got no opening advantage against Vladimir Kramnik and the two quickly drew. Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler also split the point, but not before both players had had an advantage in the game. 

In December Magnus Carlsen of Norway beat Garry Kasparov’s record of the highest ever elo rating. Being 62 points ahead of Russia’s number one Vladimir Kramnik, the Norwegian is the clear favourite in all the polls. Because of this, and perhaps his temporary side-career as a model for G-Star, on Friday Carlsen was asked by one journalist whether he felt he could make the game “more attractive, more sexy”. The top seed replied: “I drew both of my games in a total of less than three hours and an average of 30.5 moves so… that’s going to change the game a lot!”

According to Kramnik, his opponent made “the wrong opening choice”. “I consider it just harmless. In fact after ten moves there was not much to play for. It happens sometimes in modern chess.” Carlsen: “I guess the opening line in question is not very dangerous for Black but I had had some hopes beforehand that I could be able to press a little bit. Many times also with White against Vladimir I’ve been doing quite badly so at least equality is an improvement for me!”


The following game to finish was the first decisive game of the tournament: Levon Aronian of Armenia versus Boris Gelfand of Israel. It started fairly quietly and Aronian explained it as follows: “This is a well known line and White is slightly better. With precise play it normally ends up as a draw. I thought I just keep the same strategy and play solid.” Gelfand compared the ending that came on the board to the Marshall variation of the Ruy Lopez, which his opponent has often defended successfully to a draw. The Israeli, who blundered a bishop check, expained his loss with a brief sentence: “I didn’t play well I guess.”


The game between Russian GMs Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler ended in a draw, but not before either player had had a promising position. Svidler’s plan with 13…Bg4 was unfortunate, and after about fifteen moves he was already quite worried about his position. Luckily for him, his opponent miscalculated with his 20th move. “I quickly got a big advantage but I spoilt it in one move, I was almost winning there,” said Grischuk. To is own surprise, Svidler even ended up in a better ending but with a precise 30th move White managed to hold the draw.

Aronian could only enjoy his leadership status for about one and a half hours. Azerbaijan's Teimour Radjabov, who had been pressing from the start in his game with Vassily Ivanchuk, won when his opponent overstepped the time limit at move 34.

In a Leningrad Dutch, according to Radjabov his Ukrainian opponent played an inaccurate 9th move even though this was still known from a game Kramnik-Nakamura, Wijk aan Zee 2010. White went for a positionally illogical plan to exchange the e-pawns and got a strong initiative. The Azerbaijani wisely declined Black’s exchange sacrifice and soon Ivanchuk had to give up his queen for rook and bishop. Things weren’t exactly clear, and in fact at one moment Black could draw the game with a brilliant move. With seconds on the clock Ivanchuk missed it, and soon after he lost on time.

Interestingly, the two winners of the second round were also the two players who attended the SOCAR reception the night before. When asked what happened at that party, Radjabov said: “Nothing really happened there, otherwise we wouldn’t win today, I think!”

At the opening ceremony on Thursday, head of AGON Andrew Paulson mentioned the new design of the playing hall and the ChessCasting software that is being used to transmit the games live to the world. During the round, the spectators in the playing hall are given small interactive tablets which have the software preinstalled. Because the same software is available on the tournament website, the audience present in London and everywhere else in the world can get a more personal experience while following the tournament.

ChessCasting has three main screens. The first shows all four games in progress with diagrams, moves and the total time left. Then there’s the single game view, which shows the advantage for one of the players, the time spent on each move and a combined view of advantage and time. On the third page the user can go even deeper and see the ‘advantage breakdown’: material, king safety, pawn strength and mobility for each player. On top of that, spectators can start a joint analysis at any time and with anyone in what’s called “the Sandbox”. AGON plans to improve ChessCasting in the future for instance by adding Twittter and Facebook integration.

And so after two rounds the tournament has two leaders: Levon Aronian and Teimour Radjavov. Both are on 1.5 out of 2. Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk are on 1 out of 2 while Boris Gelfand and Vassily Ivanchuk have 0.5 out of 2. Sunday, March 17th at 14:00 GMT the third round will be played: Gelfand-Carlsen, Ivanchuk-Aronian, Svidler-Radjabov and Kramnik-Grischuk.

The FIDE Candidates' Tournament is taking place March 14th-April 1st, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). (Report by Peter Doggers/ Pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich: Official website)

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Black & White Best Chess Blog!

Chess Magazine Black & White is winner of the Sportskeeda Blogger Award under the 'Best Chess Blog' category. The awards were chosen by fans themselves through voting via the SportsKeeda website. You can find the results here. We thank all our fans and readers for their support and love. We are indebted to you for all your encouragement.

Candidates R1: All Four Games Drawn



The FIDE World Chess Candidates' Tournament started peacefully on Friday in London with all four games ending in draws. In the first round the players playing the black pieces were all slightly higher rated than their opponents, and all four managed to avoid serious problems. Over the last few days the IET’s Lecture Theatre has been transformed into an atmospheric chess arena, with specially designed tables, chess pieces and logos. Asked about his opinion, Magnus Carlsen of Norway said: “To say something about that I guess I need to play some more games, and perhaps some longer games as well!" The world’s number one drew rather quickly with world number three Levon Aronian of Armenia.

In what was the top game of the round, Carlsen played the Bogo-Indian and equalized rather comfortably. “In general, Levon with Black, that's as tough as it gets. It's an important game for me but at the same time it's the first round, and sometimes it's going to be quiet.” Aronian said he had “expected a bit more from this game”, but played inaccurately early on and then lost his opening advantage. 


Not only the chess fans have been awaiting this event eagerly; 6-times Russian Champion Peter Svidler confessed that the last couple of days were "quite tense" for him. He was happy to start his first game, in which he faced his compatriot Vladimir Kramnik.

It became clear once more just how high the level of opening preparation by the players is when Svidler revealed that he had actually looked at Kramnik’s rare choice of the Semi-Tarrasch. After the exchange of queens, Svidler felt the position should be very close to equality. “Perhaps White has some slight pressure if he is very lucky and accurate with move orders.” Kramnik was “pretty much worried” but still found a good way to solve his problems.


The game between Boris Gelfand of Israel and Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan saw an amusing incident at the start of the round. Chief arbiter Werner Stubenvoll of Austria announced that FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov would make the traditional opening move for the game “Anand-Radjabov”. At the press conference Radjabov referred to last year’s World Championship match between Gelfand and World Champion Viswanathan Anand. “I wasn’t sure if Boris should feel happy about being the World Champion, or if I should be happy playing the World Champion already without winning the Candidates!”

In yet another Bogo-Indian, Radjabov’s 16…d5 was a straightforward way to solve the opening problems. Gelfand, who actually saw this move coming, said: “I had the feeling White would find something but when I came to the position I couldn't find anything.” Many pieces were traded, and just before the time control the position was a dead draw.



The last game to finish was Ivanchuk-Grischuk, an Open Catalan with Black playing his king’s bishop to the modest e7 square, where a check on b4 is considered to be a safe option. Grischuk’s explanation was: “I saw that two guys played the move …Bb4+ already and Kramnik was threatening it, so I thought I had to be original!” Although Ivanchuk had a tiny advantage at some point, the draw was agreed just after the first time control.

Without exception the players expressed their joy to play this tournament in London. “I'm always enjoying my presence here; it's such a great city!” said Levon Aronian. The Armenian grandmaster has already attended several shows since he arrived. “The only thing I don't like about London is the weather,” said Alexander Grischuk, who is actually the only player who smokes, and who needs to leave the building for it.

And so after the first round the tournament has no leaders nor tail-enders. Saturday, March 16th at 14:00 GMT the second round will be played: Carlsen-Kramnik, Grischuk-Svidler, Radjabov-Ivanchuk and Aronian-Gelfand.

The FIDE World Candidates Tournament is taking place March 14th-April 1st, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). 

(Report by Peter Doggers/Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich)

Friday, March 15, 2013

Candidates 2013: Live from 7.30 pm

The long-awaited FIDE World Candidates Tournament 2013 was officially opened on Thursday night by FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov at IET London, Savoy Palace. The tournament’s opening ceremony was attended by chess officials, sponsors, and international chess media. Over fourteen rounds, eight of the very best chess players in the world will fight for the right to challenge World Champion Viswanathan Anand in a world title match later this year.

Technical meeting


At the start of the ceremony, head of AGON Andrew Paulson presented the specially designed Championship chess set of World Chess, and gave the very first set to Mr. Ilyumzhinov. Designed by Pentagram, the chess set will be available for sale in a number of different editions.


Paulson also pointed out the new design of the playing hall and the ChessCasting software that will be used to transmit the games live to the world. "It's a new design to make more esthetic the experience of watching or being a spectator at a tournament," said Paulson. One novelty is that small interactive tablets will be handed out to spectators in the playing hall which will allow the audience to have a personal experience in the hall while watching the players – something that's unique for any sport. Andrew Paulson also mentioned the special security measures with unique technology prepared by the organizers that will be used for the first time on this event. 


Before officially opening the event, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov reminded the guests of the long chess tradition in London, where 19th-century players like Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker achieved successes. "Over the next three weeks London will be the main chess centre in the world. Attention of millions of chess lovers will turn to London. It's here the challenger for the title of World Champion will be determined. The Candidates Tournament is the main and most expected tournament of the year in the chess world," said Ilyumzhinov.

The FIDE World Candidates Tournament takes place March 14th-April 2nd, 2013 at IET London, Savoy Place. It is sponsored by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) and organized by AGON and the World Chess Federation (FIDE). The eight participants are Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, Alexander Grischuk of Russia, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Peter Svidler of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel. The first round will start Friday, March 15th, 2013 at 14:00 GMT.

You can watch live from India time 7.30 pm onwards at the official website of the London Candidates Chess Matches 2013. 
(Report by Peter Doggers/Pictures Anastasiya Karlovich)

Thursday, March 14, 2013

World Team: Soumya, Gomes win Bronze

The Champions Ukraine: (From left) Mariya Muzychuk, Inna Gaponenko, Anna Ushenina, Kateryna Lahno, Natalia Zhukova.

India finished fifth in the world women’s team chess championship at Astana, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday. Seeded sixth in the 10-team event, India scored nine match points from nine rounds. Ukraine, comprising Anna Ushenina, Kateryno Lahno, Mariya Muzychuk, Inna Gaponenko and Natalia Zhukova, won the title with 16 points. China finished runner-up, while Russia was third with 13. Reigning women's world chess champion Anna Ushenina now also holds the title of the World Team Champion along with her compatriots.


(Top right) Mary Ann Gomes and (below left) Soumya Swaminathan with their Bronze medals for Boards 4 and 5 at the Astana Women's World Team Chess Championship 2013. Photo: Anastasiya Karlovich.

India, represented by Mary Ann Gomes, Eesha Karvade, Nisha Mohota, Padmini Rout and Soumya Swaminathan, lost to China 1.5-2.5 in the final round. In the other matches, Russia and Ukraine drew 2-2, France blanked Turkey 3.5-0.5, Georgia beat Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 and United States and Romania drew 2-2.


For the individual boards, Mary Ann Gomes and Soumya Swaminathan won the Bronze medals on Board 4 and Board 5 respectively.

Final Standings
1. Ukraine 16 2. China 15 3. Russia 13 4. Georgia 12 5. India 9 6. USA 8 7. Kazakhstan 6 8. Romania 6 9. France 4 10. Turkey 1

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Playing Chess to Save 4-Month-Old Daughter

Here is an interview with IM Salome Melia of Georgia via the official website of the Astana World Women's Team Chess Championship 2013. Text and photos by Anastasiya Karlovich. We appeal to everyone to help IM Salome Melia.

Anastasiya Karlovich: Salome you’ve been playing for the National Georgian team for so many years. Can you share your impressions? Is it really important and crucial for you to represent your country in such tournaments as World Women Team Championship?




Salome Melia: It’s a great responsibility for me to represent my country in such an important event. I think it’s important to any country to be here. This tournament is especially important for me as I have some kind of particular situation in my life. Today it’s a second round and I played my first game in the tournament. I made a draw against Qi Guo from China.

Today Georgia plays one of the key matches against China. How do you estimate the chance of your team? How difficult was your game today?

Of course we should not underestimate the Chinese team but we should say that they came here without strongest players. Of course we want to win. As for my game I would say that my opponent didn’t fight for initiative. As a result, it was easy to equalize, the position was simple, so it was easy draw.

You’ve mentioned some special circumstances in your life which makes this tournament very special for you. Can you please share with us what happened?


I don’t want people to exaggerate and make a tragedy but the situation is quite difficult for me. I have a daughter (4 months old) who has got health problem – heart disease. I’m not playing only for the team here, I also play for money because I want her alive. The operation cost big money.

Salome, can you please tell us how expensive is the operation and where the surgery must take place?

The operation is very complex and, unfortunately, it’s impossible do make it in Georgia. We need to go to Germany, where the operation costs 60,000 euros. We received a response from the USA, but there it costs about a million. Operation should be done before the end of March, but it is difficult to find such amount of money. I really hope that the operation will help, as no one guarantees the result, because it is very difficult to do heart surgery on a child.

Journalists appeal to the chess community, philanthropists and ask to help Salome Melia in her difficult situation.

You can send money to this account:
Beneficiary: Salome Melia

Number of account: GE57PC0193600100007067
Bank code (SWIFT): MIBGGE22
Name of bank: ProCredit Bank, Tbilisi, Georgia
address of bank: 21 Al. Kazbegi Ave., 0160 Tbilisi, Georgia.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Indian Girls Begin Campaign at Women's World Team Chess in Astana Today

The Indian team (from left) Soumya Swaminathan, Padmini Rout, Nisha Mohota, Eesha Karavade, Mary Ann Gomes. 

The opening ceremony of the Women's World Team Chess Championship took place at the Duman Hotel in Astana, Kazakhstan on Saturday after a press conference. FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov welcomed all participants and guests and awarded diplomas to players from the team of Kazakhstan - Guliskhan Nakhbayeva and Dinara Saduakassova. Both had recently complete their WGM norms.

The Chief Arbiter of the tournament Takis Nikolopoulos conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each team was invited to the stage and the top player was proposed to choose a flower with the number. The top seed of Ukrainian team Katerina Lahno luckily chose the number one, although Ukrainian team doesn’t leave the first rank. Each of the players got flowers from the organizers. Opening Ceremony Photo Gallery

Indian chess fans can watch the games live from 2.30 pm at the official wesbite with comments by GM Sergey Shipov and WGM Anna Sharevich: http://worldchess.kz/en/online.

The pairings of the first round:Ukraine - India
Romania - Russia
Kazakhstan - USA
Turkey - Georgia
China - France

The board pairings of Round 1 for India are as follows:
Lahno, Kateryna - Karavade, Eesha
Ushenina, Anna - Mohota, Nisha
Muzychuk, Mariya - Padmini, Rout
Gaponenko, Inna - Gomes, Mary Ann

During the press-conference it was announced that Kazakhstan has another ambitious plan - to host the World Chess Olympiad in 2018. Anna Ushenina, reigning women's world champion, spoke about the expectations of the Ukrainian team: “Every team wants to win first place in Astana. Our team - is not an exception. I will try to show the best result. In such tournaments there are no weak opponents.” 

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Cellphone Chess Advert Video from Belarus

WGM Anna Sharevich in cellphone advertisement video from Belarus.

Friday, March 1, 2013

'Reviving the Spirit of Innovation' Lecture at Oxford by Garry Kasparov Today


Speaker: Garry Kasparov, world chess champion, writer and political activist
Summary: The world we live in now is very different from the one that was imagined 50 years ago. Past decades foresaw a future of flying cars and supersonic jets, but commercial air travel is slower in 2013 than it was in 1976. For years we were assured that we would have abundant clean and cheap energy; instead we have record fossil fuel prices, oil spills, and nuclear meltdowns. From poverty rates to superbugs, one thing is certain: this is not the future we were promised.

How did we get so far off course from the era of radical tech innovation and ambitious exploration? Why did our culture retreat toward risk-aversion and security? And how can we revive the spirit of innovation, and help bring about its promise of positive transformational change and far-reaching societal benefits?
 

Wei Yi Now Current Youngest GM in the World


The official website of the Reykjavik Chess Open 2013 has reported that Chinese Grandmaster Wei Yi has picked up his 3rd GM norm at the event with one round to go for the end of the tournament. Since Wei Yi's rating is already over 2500, the Chinese teenager now is the official current youngest GM of the world. He is the fourth youngest in history behind Sergey Karjakin of Russia, Parimarjan Negi of India and the current world #1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway.

Disabled Chess Players: Fide Guidelines

Fide has issued the following guidelines on treatment of disabled chess players.

1. These guidelines will be used for all FIDE rated events. 

2. No one has the right to refuse to meet a disabled player against whom he has been correctly paired.
3. All chess venues must either be accessible to all, or an acceptable alternative venue with full supervision shall be available to those who cannot access the nominated venue.
4. A circular shall be sent out when all competitors are known. This circular contains an entry form with the sual points and questions, asking whether any potential competitor has an impairment that will require special circumstances. The competitor has to inform the organisers about the special circumstances at least 20 days before the start of the event.
5. No disabled player shall be “penalised” in accordance with the Articles 6.7d.and 8.1e of the Laws of Chess because of disability.
6. Any impaired competitor who reasonably requests in time the placing of their equipment in a particular seat or orientation, has the right to do so, provided that this does not disadvantage his opponent or other competitors. The event organizer has to ensure that the needs of both players are catered for. 

Women's World Chess Team Championship March 2-12 in Astana


Astana will host the Women's World Chess Team Championship from 2-12 March. The best teams of the world will participate in the coming championship, among which three teams which were ranked the best at the World Chess Olympiad, five continental champions, the country-organizer and one team elected by the FIDE President according to the rules.

Astana will gather around 50 best chess players out of ten countries: China, Russia, Ukraine, USA, India, France, Turkey, Georgia, Rumania and Kazakhstan. Every team consists of five players and the team-winner will be determined in a round-robin event after 9 games. Time control is 90 minutes per 40 moves and thirty minutes until the end of the game plus 30 seconds increment per move.

Participating teams
The WWTC has been organized since 2007 and Chinese team won all the championships in the past. Hou Yifan and Zhao Xue will not come to Astana and it’s going to be not easy for the team to prove their dominance without the strongest Chinese players.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 Super Videos by Vijay Kumar: Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Fabiano Caruana, Boris Gelfand

Videos by the renowned producer Vijay Kumar for Chessdom.com, including the start of the games of round 1, press conference with Gelfand, Caruana, and Kramnik, and interview with World Champion Viswanathan Anand. (As the players walk in, don't miss that short shot of India's most endearing chess couple!)





Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Kasparov's Computer Programme for Kids Launched in Georgia Schools


A pilot computer program on chess games designed by Garry Kasparov was launched on Monday in Georgia to assist the country's youth to learn about the game. It was announced on Monday by Georgia's deputy minister in charge of sports and youth affairs.

Zurab Azmaiparashvili told the local press that the Kasparov chess program is to be used in schools in such Georgian towns as Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi and Poti which have been producing some of the world's most famous chess players.


Monday, February 18, 2013

ChessFlash Knight Vision: Free App to Improve Piece Movement


ChessFlash KnightVision is a free chess-based game. Do battle against an army of pawns and capture them before they capture you. Chess players improve their piece movement fluency and skills and non-chess players improve and maintain their mental acuity and reflexes. Everyone has fun!

ChessFlash KnightVision is now available for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. To get the free app, just click this link from your Apple device:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chessflash-knightvision/id602098304?mt=8

Or, visit the App store and search for ChessFlash (one word). If you like the game please rate it and review it and share it with your friends! Here is a YouTube Introduction for the iPad version (the game plays the same on all devices):
 


ChessFlash KnightVision for Android was released in December and now has over 1000 users in over 100 countries. If you're already using it, thanks! If you've already reviewed it, rated it or "+1" it at the Google Play store, thanks! The Android version is now updated with the same game play options as the new Apple versions:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=chessflash.knightvision

Or, visit the Google store and search for ChessFlash (one word)!

World Chess Champion Viswanathan Wins Grenke Chess Classic 2013




World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand has won his first classical tournament in almost five years after an enthralling final day’s play in Baden-Baden. It started fast with Anand and Naiditsch blitzing out a rook ending that might have been drawn but ended in the German’s resignation on move 49. That left Caruana needing to beat Fridman to force a play-off, but he missed a gilt-edged chance in what fittingly became the longest game of the tournament.

Final rounds are sometimes dull, but there was every reason to hope for action at the GRENKE Chess Classic. No round had yet finished in three draws, and that was largely due to Arkadij Naiditsch’s seven decisive games in only nine rounds. He had the white pieces against Anand, and the players didn’t disappoint. Anand went for the Sicilian and followed the 1999 Kasparov vs. the World internet game, where the World played the novelty 10…Qe6. Anand said he’d looked at the line and that particular game just before this tournament. Naiditsch deviated from Kasparov’s line with 14.Nc3, and after 14…Rxa8 15.Bg5 e6 16.Re1 Anand played 16…Nd5:



Anand: “16...Nd5 is a pretty ugly move to make, but I simply didn’t want to keep calculating with the queens on the board”. After exchanging with 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Qxd5 exd5 19.Rad1 h6 20.Bc1 d4 Black had doubled pawns, but they control the position, with the d4-pawn taking the c3- and e3-squares away from the white rooks and preventing the bishop dropping back to e3. Vishy thought his position was very good, but heaped condemnation on his later 24…a5?!, calling it a “terrible”, “horrible”, “embarrassing” and even “insane” move.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Grenke Chess Classic 2013 Round 1: Fabiano Caruana Starts with Win, Adams-Anand Draw

When Baden-Baden hosted arguably the world’s first super-tournament back in 1870 it began in mid-July. 143 years later February snow was falling on the German spa town as tournament director Sven Noppes welcomed the players onto the stage. Things soon warmed up, however – Adams and Anand threw caution to the wind, Naiditsch and Fridman engaged in a fierce struggle, but it was Caruana who claimed the day’s only win. The Italian trapped Georg Meier’s king in the centre before ruthlessly applying the finishing touches.

Chess players have a reputation for iron logic, but in their press conference after a dazzling game both World Champion Viswanathan Anand and England’s no. 1 Michael Adams revealed that logic only takes you so far. When commentator IM Lawrence Trent started by asking the players how they were feeling Adams replied, “Good… confused by the game”. The confusion started on move 16:

Adams explained his first thought was, “16.Nd2 is a draw, but such is life – move on”. He’d dismissed 16.f4, but then thought, “Black has so many options that one of them must be good, but which one? Let’s see what happens!” Suddenly Vishy was also faced with a dilemma – all kinds of exchange sacs on e4 are possible and the rook can also simply retreat to e8, but the World Champion claimed his decision was also impulsive: “For some reason I started to like the idea of 16…Rh5, so I decided it was worth a punt”. The rest of the game was perhaps best summed up by Adams: “I was very suspicious of Rh5 – I was completely unable to refute it in any way, but it looked a very funny move.” After 17.e5 Nd7 18.Qe2 Rh4 19.e6 things looked dicey for Anand, but19…Nc5! showed he had the situation under control, even if he still felt Black needed to be very accurate in the play that followed.

Both players were in good spirits afterwards. In the position following 27…Qd7 Adams regretted playing a3:

They discussed alternatives, but Vishy brought the discussion to a close by joking, “it would have been a reasonable bluff just to play Rad1 and see if I have the guts to take on a2!”
 

Monday, February 4, 2013

Tata Steel Chess: Anand Finishes Joint Third, Carlsen Claims Crown

Levon Aronian congratulates Magnus Carlsen (right) as World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand looks on. (Photo: Tata Steel Chess Press)

World champion Viswanathan Anand suffered a shocking last-round defeat against Wang Hao of China and had to be content with a joint third finish at the 75th Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands. 

Having done decently so far, Anand ran out of steam in the last round and was outplayed by Wang Hao. Anand remained at sixth spot in the world rankings and stands to gain seven rating points from his efforts.

Magnus Carlsen of Norway completed the formalities of winning the crown after surviving a scare against Anish Giri of Holland. Carlsen was pushed to the wall but salvaged a half point to match Garry Kasparov's best ever 10 points out of a possible 13 in this tournament.

Levon Aronian of Armenia ended second on 8.5 points after a draw with out-of-sort Fabiano Caruana of Italy. Anand with eight points in all tied for the third spot with the other winner of the day -- Sergey Karjakin of Russia.

After a spate of draws in the last round, Peter Leko of Hungary finished fifth on 7.5 points, half a point more than Hikaru Nakamura of United States who played out a draw with P Harikrishna in his final round game.

How a Game of Chess Won Irrfan Khan a Film Role

 
Bollywood celebrities are known for their quirks. And before signing him for his next movie, Tigmanshu Dhulia gave Irrfan Khan a challenge that he needed to complete.

Tigmanshu challenged the actor to a game of chess and only after he beat him hands down, did he let him sign on the dotted line.

A source says, "For the sequel of Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster, everyone thought that since Irrfan is Tigmanshu's good friend, getting in would be a cakewalk for Irrfan. But the director came up with this unique test." Irrfan finally beat Tigmanshu in the game and came on board for the film.

The source adds, "It was only later that Tigmanshu explained to Irrfan that since his character plays mind games in the film, he wanted to see him in action in real-life too." (NDTV Movies)

Monday, January 14, 2013

GM Aleksej Aleksandrov wins 11th Parsvnath Delhi International Chess Festival Premier Section

NEW DELHI: Grandmaster Aleksej Aleksandrovof Belarus won the premier section of Parsvnath International Chess Festival after drawing with Grandmaster Henrik Teske of Germany in the 10th and final round on Sunday. Aleksandrov finished with eight points out of a possible 10, ahead of Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan who finished second with best tiebreak score on 7.5 points.
 

It turned out to be a three-way tie for the second spot and Teske finished third while Indian Grandmaster Vaibhav Suri ended fourth.

Aleksandrov won the winner's purse of Rs 300000 while Dzhumaev took home Rs 200000. Among the Indians, Vaibhav Suri got the biggest prize purse of Rs 75000. Marat Dzhumaev defeated P Magesh Chandran while Vaibhav Suri ended the party of K Rathnakaran who had made a Grandmaster norm after winning the penultimate round.

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