Sunday, April 28, 2013
Carlsen with Gershenberg Video
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Combining Chess and Ju Jitsu Video
Watch a video merging chess and Ju Jitsu, featuring Adisa Banjoko of the Hip Hop Chess Federation & DJ and director Mike Relm. Both Banjoko and Relm will participate in a panel discussion, "Live The Game" hosted by the World Chess Hall of Fame in Saint Louis on May 8th. The event will be held on the free day of the US Chess and US Women's Championships. LIVE THE GAME consists of a group of national experts who will discuss how chess and martial arts have been woven into the history of hip hop and how this powerful combination positively impacts our youth. Find more details and RSVP to Live The Game on the WCHOF website.
Alekhine Chess R5: Maxime Leads
Round 5 games of Alekhine Memorial were played in Paris on April 25. The French part of the tournament is thus over. Participants moved to Saint-Petersburg on April 26. Three games out of five were effective in Round 5. World Champion Viswanathan Anand scored his first point with white against Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren. This victory allowed Anand to finish this part of the tournament with 50% points.
A true sensation happened in a game between Kramnik and Fressinet. The French Grandmaster, who is a rating outsider of the tournament, totally defeated former World Chess Champion who was playing white.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the author of the third victory, who successfully outplayed Peter Svidler who had white pieces. This part of the tournament, which was played in France, brought a French leader to the joy of spectators who made the playing hall totally overcrowded every round.
The second part of the tournament will show whether Vachier-Lagrave is capable to remain on the top position up to the end. However, experts acknowledge a big amount of effective games (11 out of 25) and a huge interested for the tournament showed by chess fans. The official tournament site, where users can watch games that are commented in three languages, was visited by more than 200 000 users.
Paris part of Alekhine Memorial was a wonderful event and everyone is now looking forward to see Saint-Petersburg part. The winner of Alekhine Memorial will be announced on the 1st of May.
Standings after five rounds. 1. Vachier-Lagrave – 3,5 points; 2-5. Adams, Aronian, Fressinet, Gelfand – по 3 points; 6. Anand – 2,5 points; 7-9. Kramnik, Vitiugov, Ding Liren – 2 points; 10. Svidler – 1 point.
Round 5 results: Svidler – Vachier-Lagrave 0-1, Kramnik – Fressinet 0-1, Anand – Ding Liren 1-0, Gelfand – Aronian, Adams – Vitiugov both drawn.
Round 6 pairings: Vachier-Lagrave – Gelfand, Aronian – Adams, Fressinet – Vitiugov, Kramnik – Anand, Ding Liren – Svidler.
Alekhine Chess R4: Four in Lead
Round 4 games of Alekhine Memorial were played in Paris on April 24. Like in Round 3 four games out of five ended in a draw. The key game of the round was played between Levon Aronian and Peter Svidler. It was hard to predict however that this would be the only effective game of the round. Yet, Aronian’s fighting mood was clearly seen. It seems that he tries to catch up what he missed when he played in Candidates Tournament in London.
Aronian performed a deep home preparation against Svidler’s hallmark in Grunfeld defense. Russian grandmaster, World Cup winner, couldn’t solve his opening problems and got a bad endgame, where Aronian gained a strategic advantage. Before the first time control was reached the game was consistently won for white. As all other games ended in a draw Levon Aronian joined the tournament leaders – Gelfand, Adams and Vachier-Lagrave.
Boris Gelfand, who was playing black, met some minor opening problems that were created by Nikita Vitiugov, but managed to avoid all the threats and drew the game. French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played white against World champion Viswanathan Anand. He got a slight advantage, but before the first time control Maxime made a mistake and his opponent capitalized on opponent’s error and drew the game as well. At the press conference after the game Vachier-Lagrave mentioned that the position on the board still remained equal.
The game between Chinese prodigy Ding Liren and former World champion Vladimir Kramnik ended earlier than others. Kramnik showed a precise way to equality. The game between Laurent Fressinet and Michael Adams looked much more dramatic. French grandmaster tried to change the tournament leader, however Adams performed an obstinate defense and saved himself half a point that still keeps him in the leading group of the tournament.
Places after four rounds: 1-4. Adams, Vachier-Lagrave, Gelfand, Aronian – 2.5 points; 5-7. Kramnik, Ding Liren, Fressinet – 2 points; 8-9, Vitiugov, Anand – 1.5 points, 10. Svidler – 1 point.
Round 5 pairings: Gelfand – Aronian, Adams – Vitiugov, Svidler – Vachier-Lagrave, Kramnik – Fressinet, Anand – Ding Liren.
